


Moon Princess

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Autistic Keith [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Krolia (Voltron), Angst, Autistic Keith (Voltron), F/M, Family, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Flashbacks, Gen, Identity Issues, J-pop References, Kallura Month 2017, Keith & Ryou (Voltron) are Twins, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Biological Siblings, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Full Siblings, Moon, One-Sided Keith/Original Female Character, Pop Idol, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Self-Esteem Issues, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Slow Burn, Tennyo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25198501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: The war ends, leaving Keith feeling utterly lost, unable to approach Allura regarding his feelings due to personal insecurities. The young paladin tries seeking out the place he belongs now that Castle of Lions no longer seems like home now that Voltron is needed, but also seeks the truth regarding his parentage, only to find out things aren't as they always seem.
Relationships: Allura/Keith (Voltron), Keith & Ryou (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith's Father/Krolia (Voltron)
Series: Autistic Keith [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849156
Collections: Autistic Characters, Fuck Yeah Autistic Characters, Interspecies, Platonic Relationships, Siblings, Voltron: Autistic Keith, Voltron: Keith's Twin, Voltron: Shiro & Keith - Biological Brothers





	1. Tenshi Himi

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer – I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender. This is for the first Kallura month prompt for 2017. Keith's autistic, Shiro's brother, Ryo's twin, and while he things he's part Galra, he's actually part Altean. The original plan for 'Moon Princess' wasn't to have flashbacks to the relationship between Keith's parents, but I found the story didn't flow right.

" _I trust you, Kyra._ "

The words echoed through her head, her mind a muddled mess as she slumped in the pilot's seat of the ship. Her thin frame leaned slightly to the side, her head lolling, her entire body stiff from her ship crashing down onto the strange planet. Her crystal blue eyes squeezed shut, the pain causing the young female Altean to hitch her breath in tightly.

" _I trusted you with my daughter Allura after all._ "

The thin fingers of one hand reached down to her side where the pain came from, her eyes squeezing shut even tighter as hot tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes. " _Shut out the feelings. Don't you dare cry and show any kind of weakness, Kyra. You are a member of the blade, but the blue lion chose you of all people as the newest paladin of Voltron after its previous paladin perished. The fact you're female doesn't matter, as you are a warrior._ "

Kyra's eyes snapped open, taking in her surroundings. She was in the cockpit of an Altean ship, sitting in the pilot seat by herself with no companion. Her fingers glided over the lifeless controls, her sharp mind remembering hitting the anomaly as her ship traveled to where Altor choose to send the blue lion, his hope being she could find the location and prevent Zarkon from finding that particular part of Voltron.

A groan escaped her lips, the pain making it hard to move. Her fingers of her other hand flickered out over the controls, bringing the cockpit to life. Her limber fingers played with the keys, attempting to bring up the information she needed. A sigh escaped her lips as the Altean script told her she'd actually managed to land on the same planet Altor had sent the blue lion to, yet the exact location was unknown.

"Blue, dear blue, where are you?" Kyra's shoulders and back began to relax, and the pain lessoned slightly as relief temporarily washed over her, knowing full well she was on the right track. Her crystal blue eyes snapped open to read the rest of the report, a hand reaching absentmindedly to a lock of dark hair, pushing it behind a pointed ear. Her relief smashed to pieces, the painful emotion of panic settling into her chest area. "No. No, no, no."

Ten-thousand years had passed.

Her ship had hit an anomaly which sent her ten-thousand years into the future, meaning everyone and everything she knew was gone, but that she had no clue how the war played out. A sob escaped her lips, the frustration making her eyes close, but her arms wrapped around her side as precious memories flickered through her mind. Her fingers touched the hilt of her blade, making her lips push together as hot tears started to form at the corner of her eyes.

" _Aren't you a stubborn one, and so small?_ " a deep voice laughed, making her look up at the first blue paladin who ruffled her hair as her arms crossed her chest. " _Altor, what is with the Altean members of the Blade being so small, tiny and cute? He's absolutely adorable._ "

The corner of her king's mouth twitched, his hands going up in hopes to defuse the situation. " _Blaytz, that young Marmora knight is actually a she._ "

The Nalquodian's mouth opened wide, and he leaned over so he could look Kyra in the eye, still ruffling her hair. " _Really? The kid is really a girl?_ "

" _Yes. She's sir Viron's younger sister._ "

Blaytz' eyes widened suddenly, and the next thing Kyra knew, she was scooped into a hug, the Nalquodian invading her personal space even more. " _I was wrong. She's not absolutely adorable. She's absolutely, absolutely adorable!_ "

In Kyra's mind, the person who was truly adorable though was Princess Allura, of whom Kyra was introduced to from a very young age having been hand selected by Altor and the queen by the Altean blades to be Allura's personal body guard. She became close to the princess, particularly after the passing of the queen. Kyra even remembered Allura's attempt to confess to her childhood crush.

" _Sir Viron, will you marry me?_ "

The first blue paladin burst out laughing at this as Viron looked down at the young princess in utter confusion, unsure of how to answer the rather innocent question. Finally, he knelt down on one knee, getting to the princess's eye level. " _Someday, princess, you'll grow up. When that day comes, you'll likely meet someone you're fated to meet, but that person is not me._ "

Kyra found herself laughing along with the blue paladin, amused at her older brother's discomfort. However, it was soon her turn to be faced with an awkward question. " _So…_ " Blaytz asked. " _When are you getting married, Kyra? I'm sure you'd make a lovely bride._ "

" _I'm never going to marrying._ " Kyra snapped, her brother laughed.

" _Ah, but uncle Blaytz want's to see his adorable Kyra in a wedding dress._ "

Viron took a more serious stance on the matter. " _Kyra, you know that if and when an Altean soul bonds, there is nothing he or she can do about it, right?_ "

" _It will never happen. Ever._ "

" _What's soul bonding?_ " Viron had answered the princess' question, but the sad thing was, it seemed like the princess would never meet that one person, something Kyra had pushed away as something she didn't want, something she rejected as it was some kind of plan and she'd always gone against the plans for her. Everything was gone, leaving her an empty shell. Her eyes closed again, wondering if she should just die here, as everything she lived for was gone.

The sound of footsteps on the roof of her spacecraft startled Kyra, making her crystal blue eyes snap open. Her breath drawing in fast. She heard a voice, speaking in a tongue she did not understand. Kyra's hand went to her blade, her teeth gritting together, ready to spring forth despite her weakened state. Someone started to pry the cockpit window open.

Quickly, Kyra hit the button to open the cockpit, hopping this would put the person off guard. She saw the silhouette towering over her, and lashed out with her blade. The person was quicker than she expected, their movement speed and agility what the blades looked for in those they sent through the trial. Not only did the cockpit opening not surprise them, they dodged her attempt to lodge her blade in their eye socket.

Specifically, only the very tip of her blade made contact, leaving a long streak across the humanoid's eyebrow as he bent over slightly. Kyra attempted to use this to her advantage and attempted to bring her knife back around, but the person in question was quicker, grabbing her free arm and twisting slightly so she stumbled to the ground.

Had she been at her normal strength, this wouldn't have happened.

Lying on her stomach, her blade slightly away and now in its normal form, she felt the other person's body press against her lower back, as they choose to sit on top of her. She expected an attack but instead heard a voice attempting to sooth her, let her know things were okay. The words were not words she could make out as hands touched her arms.

Taking a deep breath, she attempted to push herself up. " _Ie_."

One hand gently moved from her arm to the middle of her back, gently touching that place to let her know they meant no harm. She choose to calm down but remained prepared to strike if need be. The person's hands touched her shoulders, and they lifted up slightly indicating they wanted to turn her over so they could get a better look at her, and she wanted to get a better look at the other person.

Kyra let out a sound of pain, and the person let out more soothing sounds, yet another voice that she now realized was there sounded bothered by her appearance. Whoever was above her remained gentle, helping her to turn over despite her injuries.

She discovered the person to be humanoid, but in fact look much like an Altean did, except this humanoid's ears weren't pointed, and there were no marks under the eyes. He was young, seeming to be around her physical age. One eye was closed shut, as blood seeped down from above his right eye where she'd managed to cut him with her blade.

Kyra though saw into that one eye, and he saw into hers, his response was to open the other eye despite the flow of blood. She found herself swallowing, feeling that flutter in her stomach and the tightening of the chest she'd heard other Altean's who had soul bonded talked about. "Ko…"

She swallowed again, not believing, as his grip loosened. Whatever he had meant to say to her was forgotten, and a hand glided to her cheek as he continued to look down into her eyes. She shouldn't have felt safe at that moment, in a strange land, with people who weren't her people, and yet she was relatively at peace as if that empty shell of hers was being filled.

She'd soul bonded.

Despite all her protests that it would never happen, it happened.

She'd soul bonded.

She'd soul bonded and it was with someone who wasn't an Altean, just her luck.

He swallowed, trying to gain his own bearing, his cheeks turning a bright and very vivid red.

"Hiroshi?"

"Ah…" The young man startled, before pointing to himself. "Hiroshi. Shirogane Hiroshi."

"Hiroshi!"

That seemed to irritate the person who was with the young man. He remained gentle, slowly moving off her, trying to be careful of her injuries, before moving one of his hands slowly behind her back to gently lift her into a sitting position, as if he knew that she was injured. She sat there, confused and bewildered. He lifted his hand again, indicating himself. "Hiroshi. Shirogane Hiroshi." He then looked at the other person. "Takeo. Shirogane Takeo."

She swallowed, then said her first words to the inhabitants of this strange planet. "Kyra."

He then said something else, something she didn't quite get, but something that seemed to upset that Takeo person. "Tenshi himi."

The next thing she knew, she was collapsing into his arms due to her injuries.


	2. War's End

The war was over.

Keith knew full well he should be feeling relief with everything said and done, yet instead, he felt like an empty shell accompanied by an ice-cold numbness. While everyone else celebrated the end and the ability to returned home to Earth, the red paladin found himself unable to celebrate. After all, Earth was not his home. Instead, it felt as if his home – the Castle of Lions – was being ripped away, no longer a welcome place now that Voltron was no longer needed.

He'd thought about going and looking for his family, yet now that things really were finished, Keith couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, let alone whether this was what he really wanted. Glancing over at the others from where he stood among the crowd of aliens also celebrating the end of the war, the red paladin could see the others conversing regarding the victory, but see exactly how happy every single one of them were. His eyes narrowed, that little voice in the back of his head telling him he'd just ruin things for everyone.

Lance, of course, flirted with the girls, and Hunk explained all the dishes he made. Pidge conversed with her father and brother, her mouth twisted into a bright smile as her hopes were now fulfilled. Keith's dark-blue eyes looked at the ground, feeling out of place in the other three paladin's worlds, but quickly shifted his eyes to look at Shiro, of whom he had built his world up around.

Keith's breath caught, catching sight of Allura chatting away amicably with Shiro and Coran, a social interaction which was so foreign to him, and yet he suddenly felt himself craving. He felt a tinge of jealousy, yet that voice in the back of his head kept telling him that he'd just get in the way of Shiro and Allura being happy, but unfortunately said voice didn't stick to poking at the fact Keith wanted them to be happy.

That little voice in the back of his head kept pestering, reminding him of the fact he was part Galra, the species that completely eradicated Allura's species. Even though she and Coran didn't have a home to go back to either, he had no right to think it was even remotely the same, let alone something that allowed him to relate to her. Keith couldn't possibly know what she was thinking let alone feeling, but he shouldn't intrude as much as the other voice in the back of his head kept telling him home was with Allura.

Plus, best to leave before she had a chance to reject him – again.

Letting out a sigh, Keith headed away, to go look at the stars. He stood there staring up at the glass ceiling, his arms crossed as the site fed his dark mood. The red paladin felt like crying, the pain he felt threatening to erupt. Suddenly, that inkling that a certain someone was approaching drew his attention away, making his mind panic that they had come and found him here.

"Keith?" Allura's voice sounded concerned.

"Allura." The way he said her name felt cold, meaning he was already putting up the walls.

"Are you okay?"

Of course, he wasn't okay, but he said instead, "I'm fine."

He looked up at the stars, trying not to cry. Allura moved closer, looking up at the stars with him. It felt right, being there looking up at the stars with her, and yet that voice in his head continued to pester. The princess spoke up first. "So, do you really have to leave?"

Keith startled, his head turning to look at her, the urge to cry temporarily leaving. "What?"

"You and the other paladins are going back to Earth, are you not?"

"Earth is home." The red paladin turned his head back to those bright stars, hoping that Allura hadn't picked up on the fact he was lying.

"But is it _your_ home?" The princess took a deep breath. "You could stay."

How he felt at her words, Keith couldn't quite put his finger on. There was that fear that always crept up when he got something he wanted, that fear of having it suddenly ripped away. His voice strained. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to…" The red paladin stopped short, unable to say he didn't want to get in the way of Allura and Shiro's relationship.

"You… you don't want to stay?" Allura sounded hurt, and he found himself forced to look her in the eye, swallowing as he did so.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." His voice strained, but Keith recognized the tone of voice as the tone that indicated he was about to cry. "I'm Galra. I can't."

"Oh." She was still upset, disappointed in him, and the voice said this was why he couldn't stay, as this was all he'd ever do in their relationship – upset and disappoint her. Allura folded her arms across her chest. "Shiro said you'd be going and looking for information on your family, so I guess that's something you can do only on Earth. But can you find all the information you need there?"

Suddenly she looked hopeful, and the red paladin didn't understand why. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, some of the information you need might not be on Earth? I could help you. I could help you find the information you need."

It shocked him, what she said, but confused him. Keith hated when things got complicated, and they just got more complicated than he liked. "I…"

"I want you to know…" Allura started, her eyes at the ground, but then she became suddenly confident and looked him in the eye. How he hated eye contact and yet _liked_ looking in her eyes. The conflicting feelings and complexity he didn't like one bit. "No. I need you to know. You're always welcome here on the Castle of Lions."

Her next move only complicated the feelings he felt but amplified the pain and confusion he felt. He didn't know what to say, nor said nothing. However, Allura did what she did that day she apologized for the way she treated him, and wrapped her arms around him, catching him completely off guard as she pushed herself into his personal space, not letting the walls he built get in the way.

She then took it a step farther, further adding to his confusion as Keith had never been good at reading social cues as they were simply too complicated. Her lips brushed lightly against his cheeks, making his entire body tense up, his eyes stare at the wall. And then she was gone, slipping away to let his personal space return to normal, and yet Keith choked.

Her actions felt so good and yet pricked his psyche painfully.

**V**

Shiro's voice drew Keith back into reality. He'd been moody, yet silent since speaking to Allura, but also avoided everyone until the Castle of Lions dropped into the dark side of Earth's moon so that the people's residents wouldn't suspect anything was up. It wasn't as if Earth had the technology to detect the ship, but it could be detected by sight.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Again, it was a lie. Keith didn't have to look Shiro in the eye to know that the red paladin wasn't fine.

"I call shotgun," Lance called out. Shiro though reacted, holding out his arm to prevent the blue paladin from rushing forward.

"I need to talk to Keith, okay?"

Lance looked at the two, simply staring. The red paladin remembered when he started asking questions about the blue lion, hoping to find information about his mother from Coran, only for the blue paladin to go on the defensive, poking him painfully in the chest, but making him feel guilty for simply wanting to know the truth.

The blue paladin stared his finger up and his mouth open to protest. Before he could, Matt swept in, pushing him to the back end of the Altean shuttlecraft. "Nope. Let them talk. It isn't as if they've had a chance to really talk since you guys rescued Shiro, right?"

"Yeah, but why…"

"Just move." Pidge moved forward, her voice obviously irritated with the blue paladin, pushing harder than her brother did. Keith winced at the ruckus that ensued.

"Now, now. Respect Takashi's wishes please." Sam's kind voice made Keith look up, yet he wasn't sure what to think. The other three paladins from Earth piled into the back with Sam and Matt though, leaving Keith to sit in the front with Shiro. Which meant the black paladin was going to grill him.

Shiro remained calm, saying goodbye to Allura and Coran, along with a few others one last time by waving, while Keith found himself unable to say anything. When he looked at Allura's face, he saw pain – pain he caused. The pain he didn't want to ever cause her again. He slumped into the chair, waiting for the conversation – no, interrogation – to come.

"So…" Shiro cleared his voice. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do what?" Keith looked back at the Castle of Lions. The walls were up.

"You said you were going to go and look for your family, remember?" The black paladin's voice startled the red paladin, making him look up at the shuttlecraft's pilot. Something was definitely bothering Shiro. "What you find, it could be very painful you know."

"Can it actually be worse than what I've already imagined?" Keith's fingers started to fidget as he tried to control what he was feeling. The others were likely in the back, chatting away about their hopes and dreams, something he didn't have. Jealousy – that was the name of one of the feelings he felt, and he didn't like it. Particularly when it was in part aimed at Shiro, something that had never happened before. "This is something I've got to do Shiro."

The black paladin turned his head, looking him in the eye. "I just don't want to see you get hurt by whatever you find out. You're my precious little brother after all."

Suddenly, Keith's hand slammed down onto the console in front of him. "Look! You're _like_ a brother to me Shiro, but you're _not_ my real brother. I'm not your _real_ brother. It's _none_ of your business, and I can handle this myself! Okay?"

"Woh…" Hunk's voice came over the sound system, making Keith realize he'd managed to turn it on. The red paladin felt a blush spread across his cheeks at that mistake.

"That's so uncool Keith." Lance folded his arms.

Matt's voice came over the system. "Wait. Shiro, you haven't…"

"Matt." Shiro snapped, making it clear that the subject was now off limits, but making the red paladin wince.

The black paladin pushed a button, turning off the intercom, but not before Keith muttered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Then came something unexpected, yet he should have expected as it was Shiro after all. "You don't have any reason to be sorry. Don't ever apologize to me for the way you feel. It's not your fault you feel the way you do."

"Yeah. But I should have better control over my emotions."

"If I'm able to…" Shiro took a deep breath. "Honestly, I don't know what's going to happen to me, because I'm still listed as dead and all, but if I can get things back on track, get a steady job and such…" The black paladin let out a deep breath. "Do you want to come and live with me?"

Keith's mouth pressed into a frown, everything threatening to spill out in a cascade of hot tears. "I can't."

"Keith…" Shiro likely had that look on his face, that look that said Keith had done something wrong, that he'd given the wrong answer.

"I'm not going to be in the way."

"In the way of what?"

"You and Allura."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"What I know is I want you to come and live with me. You're not in the way. You're not in the way of anything."

"I got in the way of you and Ryo, I'm not going to get in the way of again. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. I'm not going to be a burden. No, I'm going to stop being a burden to you, Shiro. I've got to. I've got to do this on my own."

"Keith…"

"I want you to be happy. I'm doing this so you can be happy."

A sigh escaped Shiro's lips, yet the black paladin said nothing. A quick glance told Keith that the pilot was definitely thinking things over, mulling some kind of solution to the problem, yet the red paladin felt what he was doing was best for everyone.


	3. Moon Shrine

The summer weather was warm, and the cicadas were singing. The sun was setting over the horizon, leaving an air of mystery to the two young men as the explored the vast expanses of the land owned by the Shirogane family. Hiroshi stood on top of a rock, looking down at his younger brother by one-year as he attempted to scramble over the rocky face of the hill.

The night before they'd seen a shooting star, but felt the earth shake. None of the adults thought anything of what happened, as earthquakes weren't an anomaly in Japan, nor were shooting stars, but for some reason, Hiroshi decided to go and look for the fallen star. Takeo let out a sigh, that morning, telling his older brother they wouldn't find the fallen star, but now he was starting to become annoyed at that summer day being wasted on what seemed like a frivolous adventure.

Hiroshi chuckled, feeling the cool breeze which usually occurred in the vicinity of the family shrine brush against his warm body, cooling the sweat he felt from their supposedly frivolous journey of discovery. As he laughed, something caught the youth's attention, a change to the landscape that wasn't there a few days before, but which wasn't natural at all.

The young man pushed his lips together, curiosity getting the better of him. Getting closer, Hiroshi could see the damaged space craft, but willing crawled onto the top as that was the easiest manner to approach the ship from his position. Someone was in there, and he without hesitation set out trying to rescue them despite Takeo's protests. "Hey! It could be an enemy plane! I mean, it doesn't look like any of the ships we've seen at the base when we've gone with _otou-sama_."

"You protest to much." Hiroshi let out a deep breath, bored out of his mind. For a family so deeply entrenched in bringing the old customs into the military life, life was in fact rather boring. He climbed down to the side and attempted to open the cockpit to get to the person who possibly needed help. That was the morally right thing to do, and yet the young man also felt drawn for some strange reason.

The next thing he knew, the instincts that their " _otou-sama_ " ingrained into kicked in as the door to the cockpit opened up, and the person inside attempted to spring forth. The person had a blade, which she propelled towards his face. Hiroshi dodged but felt the sting of the blade over his right eye. Instinct led to the young man pushing the other person into the ground and getting on top to prevent another attack.

The way _her_ body tensed told him they thought of her as a threat, and yet he knew _she_ was hurt. He could tell that she was a she simply because of the shape, and yet he could be wrong. Somehow, he managed to get her turned over so that he could speak to her, and hopefully get a look at her injuries. He attempted to tell her, hello, only to see her beautiful crystal blue eyes and alien features. Hiroshi felt as if something had connected between the two of them that he couldn't place.

The way he acted towards her next wasn't at all natural. His defenses were down, yet for some reason, Hiroshi knew she wouldn't hurt him. His hand calloused from holding a wooden sword in the dojo gently touched her cheek as he continued to stare into those beautiful eyes. At the back of his mind, the urge to kiss her existed, and yet it was superseded by concern for her wellbeing. In fact, somehow he knew exactly where she was hurt.

Takeo though wasn't happy, his voice coming out fearful. "Hiroshi?"

"Ah…" Suddenly, he found himself introducing himself to the girl. "Hiroshi. Shirogane Hiroshi."

"Hiroshi!" Takeo's voice cracked. After introducing himself again, he looked up at his brother, who was looking down at him horrified. "Takeo. Shirogane Takeo."

Then she told him her name. It was Kira, a beautiful name to match a beautiful person. He couldn't help but call her a tenshi himi.

"What is wrong with you?"

Hiroshi found himself drawn away, still holding onto Kira as he thought about how best to get her injuries treated. Takeo was clearly upset. "What do you mean?"

"You gave our names to a complete stranger who looks like an alien from outer space despite the fact _otou-sama_ has always said, never, ever give out our names that easily!"

"It's okay."

"It's not okay Hiroshi."

"No. You're right." Takeo's facial features softened at this statement from Hiroshi. "She's hurt."

Gently, he lifted her up into his arms, knowing that the closest place was the shrine. He cradled her to his chest, glancing down at her beautiful face, only to note how pale her features were. Something definitely wasn't right, and letting out a sigh, he began to walk up the path at a semi-quick pace, his brother hot on his heels. Takeo followed closely behind, frustrated at Hiroshi's actions.

"We need to contact _otou-sama_. What if she's part of an advanced party that is attacking Earth."

"You're just paranoid."

"Paranoid? You're not thinking straight. And why? Because some alien chick's bewitched you?"

Hiroshi paused, more to adjust Kira in his arms so he wouldn't accidently drop her than to give his brother what he hoped as a very glaring look. "She's not bewitched me. You wouldn't even begin to understand."

"Hiroshi! She's an alien, or… something not human!"

The older of the two brothers stiffened, before continuing up the path. It took five to ten minutes to get to the shrine, but by the time he arrived, only to find the monk currently stationed at the shrine talking to some of the local villagers. Everyone in the village was connected to the Shirogane family, but only a select few weren't related or married into the family.

The couple speaking with the monk looked up, concerned at seeing the two oldest of the Shirogane head, but that the oldest had a young female with him. Arriving up there, Hiroshi froze. His mind told him to get her to safety, and he knew the shrine was the safest place. However, the realization hit that he didn't know who he could trust. Kira's breath came in and out, slightly ragged as if she had managed to injure her ribs, possibly even breaking them.

"Hiroshi?" The woman looked up, not addressing him with the " _sama_ " others normally attached to his name.

Tadeo walked forward. "Eri _oba-chan_. Hiroshi _nii_ - _sama_ …" The younger brother paused, still horrified that Hiroshi had decided to rescue the young female.

"She needs help. Her ship crashed."

"A tenshi himi?" The person running the shrine seemed worried, his eyebrows shooting up.

"No, an alien." Tadeo managed to gasp out.

Their _oba-chan_ moved over, placing her hands lightly on Kira's shoulder. A frown spread across her face before she looked him in the eye. " _Oi-chan_ , we can't keep this a secret."

"If they know about her, they'll experiment on her."

"She needs a doctor."

A wave of nausea hit, realization that he might lose her despite just meeting sinking in. The situation wasn't good, but it was right then that the female alien decided to wake up. Kira was at first relaxed, only to flinch when the woman tried covering her ears with a scarf.

" _No. Don't touch me._ " Kira strained, going deeper into Hiroshi's arms, clinging to his shirt tightly."

Eri pointed at her ears, then at Kira's. The female alien seemed to realize what she was getting at, and let the woman cover her ears to hide their oddity. In the mean time, Eri's husband started down the stairs that led to the villiage. "I'll get my truck. We need to hurry."

The monk placed a hand on his chin, before sighing. "So, I'll be going with as well. I hate saying this, but if we want to cover this up, we need the family head involved."

Hiroshi flinched, not wanting to think about how his father would possibly act. Instead, Eri tugged his sleeve. "Hurry. Doctor. She needs a doctor."

"Yes." Hiroshi took a deep breath, looking over at Takeo, the look almost saying his younger brother got what he wanted. The look on the younger brother's face continued to indicate extreme displeasure. Taking a deep breath, he started to carry her down. Her hand tightened around his clothing as Kira slipped in and out of consciousness. The journey down was longer than the walk to the shrine, but Eri held onto his sleeve as they went down.

To his dismay, some of the villagers had already gathered, as news traveled fast. Hiroshi pushed her head into his chest, catching site of the girl who everyone hoped he'd eventually marry. Swallowing, he took in how much had changed in that one moment, but how the duty so ingrained into him seemed insignificant. Eri's husband helped him to settle Kira into the back of the truck just as the girl he was expected to marry grabbed Takeo's sleeve, saying a few choice words to his brother.

Takeo flinched but then shook his head, climbing in with Hiroshi despite his negative feelings on the matter. Hiroshi cradled Hira in his arms, one of his arms clutching the side of the truck as Eri's husband took off. Eri sat on the other side, helping him to steady Kira as they headed to the closest hospital. Arriving there, they, of course, drew attention.

"This girl. Who is she? I've never seen her before."

"She's our daughter." Eri piped up, as Kira breathed slowly. "My husband and I, we adopted her from Korea, and these two young men were kind enough to show her around, but there was an accident on the trail by the shrine."

"Yes." Eri's husband spoke up. "Our daughter's name is Tsukihime. Kogane Tsukihime."

If he'd been his normal self, he might have laughed at choosing the name, as it meant moon princess. However, the monk was on the phone, discussing things with the head as he discussed things. The doctor started to remove the scarf, only to flinch upon seeing Kira's ears. "What the…"

"You'll say nothing of this." The monk spoke up.

"Excuse me. I need to report this…"

"She was born that way." The monk piped up, placing a hand over the mouth piece of the phone he'd borrowed from a nurse. "There is no reason to report this."

"Yes. I'll set up…"

Hiroshi honestly didn't understand any of the jargon the man used, but soon he was gone, taking Kira with him. The monk sighed. "So, the head of the family should be here before they find anything that might prove her to be alien, but he'll also be demanding that they sign non-disclosure agreements."

"Yeah, but after the fact?" Hiroshi let out a sigh.

"He's got his ways. You don't need to worry."


	4. Future Plans

It took twenty-seven minutes and thirty-three seconds for them to land at the Japanese garrison as the military establishment of Earth requested when they sent the transmission that they were coming home, making their arrival occur thirty-nine minutes and thirty-two seconds after the arrival at the moon, as from the initial call to when they boarded and said goodbye was eleven minutes and fifty-nine minutes. How long saying goodbye lasted, Keith honestly did not know, nor did he want to measure.

Thus, when they arrived, there hadn't been time to bring the families of the other Paladin's in, but there was time to put together a conference room in which they could wait, but also be interviewed despite the fact Samuel Holt sent detailed information dealing with what happened to them back, which included information so Allura could possibly start diplomatic relations with the home planet of the paladins, or in other words a lot of stuff that wasn't simple but complex and thus Keith wanted nothing to do with.

Things seemed normal until the officers started to pull Shiro into a different room, and the red paladin felt a lump in his throat. The black paladin simply glanced back, and quickly noticed his discomfort, before turning to the guards. The older paladin tilted his head towards Keith. "I need Keith to come with me. There are some things I need to talk to him about."

The guard blinked, and Lance seemed a bit bothered but didn't start into his normal snark. Keith took a deep breath, following Shiro and the soldier to what he imagined was a smaller conference room. The man left, and Keith spoke up, his voice straining. "Why are they separating you, Shiro?"

"Why?" Shiro sat down, completely calm. "You don't know the answer to that?"

Keith turned glaring at the wall, sitting on the edge of the table. "How should I know? You know I hate complicated things."

"Okay. Then let me spell it out for you. We're at the Japanese garrison. I'm Japanese."

The red paladin turned his head so that he could look over his shoulder. "Things aren't that simple." He watched as Shiro's mouth open. "Yeah, I thought so."

Shiro sighed, running his real hand through his hair to try and relieve some of the stress, stress that Keith knew he was personally causing, which he in turn hated. His mechanical hand tapped the table. "Keith, are you absolutely positive you want to do this on your own? You know…"

The eighteen-year-old watched Shiro swallow, and then advert his eyes. "Find my family? You know that's…" Keith's voice slowed. "… important." In truth, he wanted to stay with both Allura and Shiro but felt he'd just get in the way. His head turned away. "Yes. It is something I have to do myself?"

"Okay. At least tell me what your plan is? What do you plan on doing going forward?"

"Plan?" Keith took a deep breath. "I guess I get a job, find an apartment, and I guess figuring out how to find information."

"Keith, you're not an adult. You can't enter into a legal contract without your legal guardian being involved."

The red paladin felt the anger rise to his cheeks, irritated that Shiro was forgetting an important detail. "Shiro! I'm eighteen. I _am_ an adult. Or did you forget that?"

He watched the black paladin startle, a rather hurt look on his face. "Wait. Another one of your birthdays has passed without me being there?"

Keith glanced away, realizing he'd pushed the wrong button, having forgotten that Shiro had lost a year. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It was while you were missing again. It wasn't that important, so I didn't bring it up. It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? It's a big deal to me. I've not missed one of your birthdays since…" Shiro took a deep breath. "You're right. You're eighteen. But that's…" The black paladin's eyes closed. "Keith, what nationality are you?"

"Galra." It came out easily, despite the fact he should be more bothered by the fact he was of an alien race that managed to eradicate all but two of another species. Keith's facial features twisted at that thought.

"Okay. Let me rephrase that then. Here on Earth, what nationality are you?"

"I don't know. I guess American." Keith watched Shiro lean back in the chair, the seat creaking as the black paladin did so. The look on his face was utter horror, meaning Keith had gotten it wrong, but that it was important. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to mess up."

"Keith, it's not your fault. None of this is, but it does explain your confusion." Shiro relaxed slightly. "I'm sorry I gave you the impression that you've done something wrong. I'm just…" The black paladin paused. "… worried about you."

Keith frowned, his frustration making him set his jaw firmly. "What am I confused on?"

"While it is true that in America you would be considered an adult at eighteen, in Japan you're not considered an adult until you turn twenty. Which means you _can't_ go into a legal contract for a job _without_ your legal guardian's consent. Because on all documents you _are_ Japanese."

"What?" The red paladin felt the panic rising in his chest. "Wait. What am I supposed to do? You're my legal guardian. You've been my legal guardian since I turned thirteen. After…" Keith closed his eyes. "This isn't some trick to…"

"No!" Shiro took a deep breath. "And legally speaking, I can't be your legal guardian because I'm still legally dead."

At that, Keith started pacing the room, his arms crossed. "Wait. If you're not, who is? What am I supposed to do? I don't want to be a part of the system. I was stuck like that for a year. Before…"

"Before I turned twenty and thus could become your legal guardian like…" Shiro paused as if something were bothering him, hurting him a lot. Keith hated seeing Shiro hurt. His fingers began to fidget. "He wanted. He made plans for me to be your legal guardian, and I made plans for you in case something happened to me. They just for some reason didn't go through."

"I'm sorry." Keith looked at the ground, leaning against the wall, looking at the ground.

"What for?"

"For what I said earlier."

"I can't think of what you're talking about."

"That you're not my real brother. But Shiro, no matter how much you're like a brother to me, like a second father, I can't forget that you have a family. You have a real brother. So, I want to prove I can do this on my own, that I'm not a burden to you anymore." Keith looked at the ground. "I want to prove to you that I can take care of myself, that you don't need to worry about me. So, you can get back to your real family. So, you can get back to Ryo."

"Keith…" The sound of Shiro's voice indicated he was attempting to not cry. "The problems between me and Ryo, they're not as simple as you think they are. You not being a part of my life, that won't make things better, and it's certainly not a solution to the problem."

"Can you say that I'm not the reason why you and Ryo aren't on speaking terms?" Keith looked up and noticed that Shiro was looking away. "What?"

Shiro looked up, taking a deep breath. "Keith, have you actually met Ryo?"

Keith let out an irritated sound. "Are you kidding me? I already know he hates me without meeting him. The two of you had loads of arguments after you became my legal guardian. I stole you away from him."

"It's not that simple." Shiro sighed. "Honestly, it's one of those things I can't explain to you right now."

"I want you to mend things with Ryo."

"I don't think that's possible." The black paladin let out a sigh. "If you understood the situation, then maybe you'd understand why, but then…" Shiro closed his eyes. "Look. I'm going to acknowledge the fact you want to do this on your own. I'm not going to acknowledge what you say about being a burden, because you're not, and I need you to know that."

"Shiro…"

"Keith, you're not a burden. Never were, never will be. I'm acknowledging the fact you want to do this on your own, simply because you _are_ growing up, which… I can't even begin to describe how I feel to you on that. Letting you do this, I hate it. I hate the idea you might get hurt, but that's part of growing up. Oh, I hate it."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm sure he would have felt kind of the same way. It's supposed to be normal. At least, that's what I've read."

"So, you're going to let me just go?"

"No, I didn't say that." Shiro's mouth twitched up slightly, even though the black paladin wasn't happy, and still looked at the top of the table. "I can't do that. You're eighteen, not twenty for starters. And you don't have any money. I want you to trust me, to trust me just one more time. I want you to trust me even if after this you never, ever trust me again."

"Shiro…" Keith started to laugh, as in his mind Shiro couldn't possibly be serious.

"You need to know, to understand I would never, ever purposefully hurt you."

"I know that. I get that. It's one of the few things in life I know I definitely understand." Keith smiled, wondering why Shiro was talking the way he was.

"Look. I want you to go to a certain place in Japan. I'll write the instructions on how to get there, but find some way to get the money so you can get there. Your Japanese is quite good, so you should be fine getting there."

"Shiro…" It was then that Keith realized how serious Shiro was. "I don't understand. Why go to this place?"

"It…" Shiro took a deep breath. "I don't know how to explain this. I really don't, because it's not simple like you like. I'm going to write an introduction explaining things to them everything. Don't open it. Don't read it. It's for them to read. They'll…"

"Who are they?"

"I…" Shiro's voice tightened, and he refused to make eye contact. "They'll take care of you. They're my contingency plan if anything happened to me, so that should tell you that I trust them. Please trust me, and follow my instructions carefully."

"Yeah, but…" Keith looked at the ground. "I really need to do this on my own. Not be a burden to anyone. Have a job, a place to live."

It honestly wasn't as simple as he thought. "Trust me. Please."

**V**

Trust came easily for Keith when it came to Shiro, even though he still wanted to question the older paladin's actions. He'd met the older paladin a year after his father disappeared, leaving him an orphan and in the American foster system. His case was in limbo for reasons his social worker wouldn't explain, and he bounced from house to house. He'd say his father abandoned him like his mother, yet his father had dropped hints of something important going on, something he needed to take care of, but also that he planned on coming back.

Plans don't always go as one planned and finding out that at age eighteen things weren't as straight forward as he'd hoped. He slipped out of the garrison without anyone knowing, using Shiro's instructions. The black paladin asked one of the soldiers he knew for a favor, which in turn bothered Keith, but Shiro pushed the worries aside, telling him this was important. He thus found himself getting on the bus just outside of the garrison, heading to a small village a couple of hours away called Shurubabare.

To be exact, two hours, twenty-five minutes according to the map.

However, Shiro had told him a long time ago that those times were estimates, and so Keith settled down. He'd not thought about it much, but he'd not said goodbye to the other paladins, something he felt was for the best. Plus, Shiro wanted him to leave as soon as possible, as if something was bothering him, but that leaving as soon as possible was important. The bus stopped every so often, but few people got on and off.

Keith shrunk down into his seat, hiding and waiting, patiently reading the signs and paying attention to the landscape.

"Are you going to Shurubabare as well?" A female voice caused Keith to startle, and he jerked his head up to see a girl who bleached her hair looking down at him. He didn't say anything, as she was a stranger. "Wow. You kind of look like him."

"Him…" Keith scooted towards the window. He'd sat at the back, hoping he would be ignored, but it meant the girl could sit down next to him.

"You know. The pop idol Doragonhanta? You know, Shirogane Ryo?"

"Um. No. I don't know." The fact she said Ryo's name backwards was confusing enough, though he believed he'd covered this with Shiro and his father at one point, there was the fact she thought he looked like Shiro's younger brother. Keith brushed the comment aside though, as the girl was certainly creeping him out, so he slid closer to the window, hoping that the girl would take that as a message to leave him alone.

She continued to sit by him. "I don't know how you can't know. You're going to Shurubabare, aren't you? Everyone goes back to Shurubabare for the summer festival. It's like, one of the major things to do over break unless you happen to be going on your school's trip…"

" _Can she shut up? I have no clue what she's talking about._ "

"…but then, you try to manipulate things so that the entire class is going to Shurubabare. But that's not to hard when every girl knows Doragonhanta is from Shurubabare, and the festival is amazing." The girl suddenly leaned over, making Keith very uncomfortable. "My name is Kanesaka Tsuya by the way."

It was then that her hand touched his leg, and Keith flinched to the point he jumped out of his seat. To be specific, he'd jumped up in an attempt to get away from her. "Don't touch me. Please."

The girl let out a sigh, before looking to the front. She moved a bit away, but Keith quickly moved to another seat, hoping she wouldn't follow, or that there wouldn't be any way for someone to follow. What happened, it felt like he was cheating on Allura, yet he couldn't explain why he felt that way. The bus finally arrived, and he looked at his final instructions. Shiro hadn't been specific as Keith pulled the small duffle closer, but he was to find the local store, yet he didn't know how to get there.

He jumped as the girl touched his shoulder, leaning over to see what he was reading. "Don't do that!"

"Well, you're not very sociable. I didn't even get your name."

"Keith. Keith Kogane."

"Oh…" The girl took a deep breath. "You're looking for the store. You just need to walk down the road to that building right over there. It's slightly outside of the main villiage, but they've always served the tourists who go up to the shrine."

"Um. Thanks." Keith looked at the ground, then frowned. "Wait. How did you know I was looking for that place?"

"How? You honestly don't know?" The girl simply laughed, before taking off to greet some female friends of hers, who simply giggled at him.

Keith honestly didn't know what was so funny but headed down the road. It wasn't hard to miss, yet the red paladin found himself swallowing. The sign read _Kagone Family Store._


	5. Moon Child

"Takashi…" A warm breeze blew through the open window as the seven-year-old looked up at the bright moon in the sky. The voice of the speaker, the words they spoke were as soft as the wind.

Two small feet swung back and forth as the boy sat on the _engawa_ , the traditional corridor attached to the house on the outside. Two dark eyes stared up at the moon, the light cascading on the boy's cheeks. The woman moved to sit next to the small boy, yet he didn't speak up, but continued to stare, as if waiting for something.

"It's past your bedtime, and you have a busy day tomorrow."

"There's supposed to be a total lunar eclipse tonight." The child continued to look up at the moon. "Not much longer?"

The woman let out a chuckle, brushing back the child's hair, her pale skin glowing under the moonlight. The light also reflected off her hair. "I don't see why not."

The woman leaned in closer, her stomach poking out painfully, indicating she was due soon. "Do you want to hear the baby?" Takashi's eyes opened, his mouth opening into a smile. He leaned over, placing his ear onto his mother's stomach, listening and feeling the kicking of the baby. "You excited about being a big brother?"

Takashi nodded his head, closing his eyes for a few minutes, enjoying the touch of his mother's hand as she stroked his hair affectionately. Everything seemed just right at that moment, and nothing felt like it could go wrong. The sound of the movement changed, and Takashi's mother let out a sound which wasn't usual. The seven-year-old let his head jerk up, looking straight up into his mother's face. "Ka-chan?"

"I'm okay. Your father. He's supposed to be home soon, and…" Sweat started to appear on her face. "Um…"

"Ka-chan?"

"Takashi, could you go and get obaa-chan? She's in the other room."

The boy complied, unsure of what was going on. He arrived in the other room, where his mother's mother was watching the television as if also waiting for something. One of the wives of his mother's brothers was also with his grandmother. "Baba!"

The old woman's mouth opened, before standing up, as if she understood something was wrong. Standing up, she headed to where her daughter sat on the edge of the _engawa_. Gently, she reached down for the young woman, helping her to get up. His aunt helped. "Come. To the other room."

Takashi flinched, wondering what was going on, only to have his grandmother tell him not to come in, but that the baby was coming. The seven-year-old sighed, sliding down to the floor. The sounds coming from the other room didn't sound good, yet every time he attempted to peek, his aunt would shake her head. The fact the moon was eclipsing didn't help and made the room feel cold. Eventually, his father came home and saw the worried look on his face.

The man sat down beside Takashi, smiling down at the boy. The seven-year -old looked up, smiling back. He noted his father's firm jaw, and the scar over his right eyebrow remaining ever so familiar. He knew his father's face. Another sound of pain made him wince. Outside, the moon was now almost completely covered. "Ka-chan…"

"She's going to be okay."

"She's hurting. Why is…" Takashi looked at the ground. "Why is the baby hurting mama?"

His father frowned, wondering how to answer that question. "Well…" Clearing his throat, Takashi's father glanced up at the ceiling. "That's how having a baby is. But it's worth it." The man looked down, seeing his son's wide eyes. "Well, we have you, do we not?"

"Yes…" The moon was now completely covered but didn't seem right.

"And you'll have a new baby brother or sister soon, right?"

"Yes…"

"So, it's worth it."

Suddenly, the door to the room Takashi's grandmother took his mother opened, and his aunt stuck her head out. "Hiroshi-sama…"

The smile on his father's face fell as if something was wrong. "The baby. It's not crying."

"The baby's not breathing. Curse this eclipse."

Takashi watched his father stand up, the wooden floor creaking, before patting the boy's head. "Stay."

"But…"

This time, the door didn't close. Takashi felt ill at what he saw. His mother literaly looked like a demon, her ears which were normally covered – it was evident that they were pointed, but strange marks had appeared on her cheeks. Worse, his father was being given the baby, yet the sounds his mother made hadn't gone away.

"Why is Kyra still…"

"There's more than one child Hiroshi."

Takashi looked up at the scary moon, not liking the look of the blood red color of the moon. The shade started to go away, and as soon as the moon became normal, he heard the sound of a baby crying. It wasn't in the direction of his father, who spent quite a bit of time with the other baby, while his aunt went to call an ambulance. Takashi found himself clinging to the doorframe, scared.

Then, his father breathed a sigh of relief, yet the first baby didn't cry. Worry hit, the seven-year-old thinking that his father had given up. His mother held onto the one baby, while his father gently cradled the other one. "Hiro, why isn't the baby crying?"

"I don't know. He's breathing though, but also reacting to me being here." His father walked over, and gently placed the baby in his mother's other arm.

"He's so… fragile."

"I want…"

Takashi interrupted his father. "Ka-chan?"

Kyra looked up, her crystal blue eyes looking right into her son's. She swallowed, almost as if he had seen something he shouldn't have. A smile spread across her face. "Want to come and see your baby brothers?"

His eyes blinked, taking in the fact there was more than one. He walked over, amazed at the tiny things his mother held into, but also how exasted his mother looked. There was also her ears and the marks on her face. "Ka-chan, what are you?"

Her mouth pushed together. Takashi's grandmother interrupted. "Your mother is a tenshi himi. You can't tell anyone, as it's a secret."

"Do you want to hold one of the babies?"

Takashi frowned, then pointed to the second one, the one his father had handed his mother. "Him. I want to hold him."

His parents startled, and his grandmother frowned. "Takashi, that baby has to go to the hospital."

"Why?"

"Because…" Hiroshi sighed. "Something bad happened. The baby isn't well."

"I'll protect him." Then, the realization hit. "What is _his_ name?"

"Akira." His father was quick, and Kyra got that look on her face, the one that said she was angry.

"Hi-ro-shi. You said I could name the next one."

His father flinched but then sighed. "I'm superstitious. Akira is similar to your name, and if we give him that name, maybe he'll be like his mother, and have the stubbornness and the strength to live."

"Is the baby dying."

"No! No, the baby isn't going to die." His mother titled her head, indicating he should come to her other side. Takashi moved and found himself leaning up against his mother. The room smelled awful, and yet she coaxed Akira into his arms. She sighed. "Now, for the other one. I think Ryo's also a good strong name, and this one had lungs on him, sounded like a very loud dragon, didn't he?"

Takashi nodded his head but ran a finger against Akira's cheek. However, soon the ambulance arrived. While Ryo and his mother came back a few days later, Akira had to stay in the hospital for an entire month. The babies were identical, yet telling Ryo and Akira apart was easy, as Takashi's parents were extremely careful. Every so often, Takashi would reach in, and let Akira take his fingers. Unlike Ryo, Akira didn't cry.

Takashi wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *


	6. Kogane Family Store

Keith didn't like the way he felt. Seeing the name of the store, that it contained his last name…

Things honestly didn't sit well, but worse, Shiro had known this entire time that this place existed. Closing his eyes, the red paladin tried processing the fact Shiro had kept something from him. " _I want you to trust me, to trust me just one more time. I want you to trust me even if after this you never, ever trust me again._ "

Keith swallowed. " _Shiro knew. He knew I'd have reason to not trust him before he sent me here. The fact he kept something from me, that hurts. Why would…_ "

" _I just don't want to see you get hurt by whatever you find out. You're my precious little brother after all."_ Those weren't the only words the red paladin remembered. " _I hate the idea you might get hurt, but that's part of growing up. Oh, I hate it._ " The gears in Keith's mind clicked, something telling him that Shiro was holding off telling him until Shiro felt he was ready to know. It meant he trusted him. Even more important. " _You need to know, to understand I would never, ever purposefully hurt you._ "

" _I know that. I get that. It's one of the few things in life I know I definitely understand._ " Keith took a deep breath. "Yup. It's the one thing I understand. It's not complicated at all."

Taking a deep breath, the teen stepped through the open door, listening to the jingling sound. It sounded pleasant, yet there also seemed something strangely familiar about the place that Keith couldn't put his finger on. He titled his head, noticing someone sweeping. They seemed to be around his age, and at first paid him no mind. He then looked up, tugging his head phones out of his ears. " _Kuso_. What are you doing here?"

"Um…" Keith's eyes blinked, confused as to why the other male was reacting the way he did, but then remembered all too well how people always reacted to him even though they'd never met. This was just quicker than the norm. He glanced away, but unzipped his bag, pulling out Shiro's letter. "I'm supposed to deliver this letter to someone here."

"Baka." The other young man was irritable, snatching the letter away. He turned, yelling out to the back room. " _Obaa_ - _chan_! _Ojii_ - _san_ "

A soft voice came from the back, as Keith looked at the ground. By the sounds of it, the people here were family, yet already the young man in front of him was treating him with disdain, much in the same manner that Allura had. It honestly hurt a lot, yet he couldn't voice his discomfort.

"That Ryo baka's dropped off a letter."

Keith frowned, confused as to why the other person would think that Ryo had anything to do with the letter. He felt like running, yet stood their frozen. Except he wasn't quite frozen. His left hand was in the air, twitching like it usually did when he managed to become upset. An older Japanese woman came out of the back, quickly followed by an older man. The man shook his finger at Keith. "Ryo. If you're trying…"

"My name isn't Ryo!" Keith felt hurt, yet confused. He suddenly remembered how that girl had said he looked like Ryo.

"Are you trying to play some kind of sick joke?" The youth spoke up, not at all pleased that Keith was there.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Keith looked at the ground, wondering if he should just leave.

He didn't see the look of surprise on the woman's face. "Wait. You're Akira. You're our Akira, aren't you."

Keith startled, looking up in time to see the old man flinch, while the youth looked on in confusion. He swallowed, finding himself just as confused as the other young man. The old man spoke up. "That's not possible. That's not possible at all."

The woman waved her hand, indicating that the youth should hand her the letter. She quickly opened up, her eyes widening as she and her husband read the letter, they shook their head, muttering. Keith glanced away, the situation became even more uncomfortable. He watched as the couple indicated they wanted to go and talk about something out of ear shot.

The way the youth looked at him, it made Keith back away towards the door. He glanced at the ground, just as he heard a voice coming from outside, slowly getting closer as if the group of people talking was walking towards him. "Are you sure you want to come here to Shurubabare? I'd have thought you'd have rushed to the garrison with your grandfather and uncle Ryo, once you found out your older brother is actually alive."

"Yeah. I thought you'd be pleased with the fact Takashi's alive. Didn't you wish…"

"That I'd wish Takashi were alive? That I'd consider that some kind of wish come true." Ryo's voice made Keith stiffen up, but he didn't notice the young man who still held a broom in his hands also stiffen up. "It's not! Of all the people to come back from the dead, he's the last person I'd want. It's a shit miracle, that's what it is, and I'll have…"

Keith startled, as the young man with the broom moved forward, his facial features indicating anger. The result was the red paladin stumbling backwards through the door, falling flat on his back, making Ryo slow his speech. Keith felt his blood run cold, looking up at the face of Shiro's younger brother. Eerily, the red paladin saw a face which mirrored his own, except Roy's hair was cut short.

"… nothing to… do with…"

One of the guys with Ryo let out a curse. " _Chikuso_. What's with the look alike."

"Kono yarou."

Ryo's tone of voice, however, softened. "Akira…"

The old couple had called him that, yet now Ryo was. Panic began to set in, and Keith bolted up, moving back into the family store, past the young man with the broom. The place was small, so he didn't have a place to go and get away from Shiro's brother.

"Akira!"

"Ryo, you know…" One of Ryo's friends spoke up, just as Shiro's brother stood in the doorway now, the young man with the broom having stepped between Keith and Ryo.

"Stay out of this!"

Keith flinched, realizing that Ryo had a worse temper than he did, possibly. Worse, Ryo's attention was directed right at him, the person who happened to have stolen his older brother away. It would stand to reason that Ryo would know what he looked like, even though they'd never met. That didn't explain why Ryo happened to call him…

"Akira…"

" _Kuso_ _kurae_!" The swear word came out of Keith's mouth even though he hadn't intended to swear. Ryo was far from amused, but the young man who was standing between Ryo and the red paladin turned his head to look at Keith, his jaw dropping. Keith could feel his breath come in ragged strides, the panic attack getting worse. Yes, he was going to have a complete and utter mental breakdown in _front_ of Shiro's younger brother.

Ryo opened his mouth, only for the old lady to come out of the backroom. Her voice was firm. "Ryo, leave."

"Wait…"

"Leave."

"What the hell! This isn't fair!"

"You need to leave." This time it was the old man. "Don't make me speak to your _other_ grandfather."

"Does my other grandfather even know that _he's_ here?"

Keith looked at the ground, feeling like he'd done something seriously wrong. The old man spoke, his voice as firm as his wife. Keith could no longer hear the man's words, his head swimming. He felt a tug at his sleeve and found himself led into the back, where a set of stairs led up to the second story. He collapsed to the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest, his hands covering his ears. It was his worst nightmare.

In fact, Shiro had been right about getting hurt, yet there was nothing that could be done about that.

A soft, old hand reached up to gently touch his. "It's alright. Ryo left with his friends."

"How."

"He's stubborn, but he listens." The old man's tone said he was still mad.

"My, you're still the same as always." The old woman's hand gently rubbed his neck and shoulder, attempting to help him calm down.

"Same as always? You know me."

"Yes. Yes, we do."

Guilt washed over him, as he didn't remember them. "I'm sorry. So sorry."

"What ever for."

"You remember me, but I don't remember you."

"Don't worry. Takashi, he filled us in. Everything is going to be okay."

"I don't know who you are though."

The woman's soothing voice was replaced by the man's. "We're your grandparents. This young man over here, this is Kogane Keiji. He's your cousin, Akira."

"Akira's not my name. It's not."

"Kogane Keith?" The old woman offered up. Keith simply nodded his head, suddenly wishing Shiro or Allura were with him. The situation, it was super uncomfortable.


	7. Akira or Keith

There was so much pain.

To even begin to put the pain felt into words, one couldn't even begin to describe how Takashi felt. He couldn't even begin to explain how Ryo felt when _that_ happened. Takashi remembered as vividly as the day the twins were born, simply because just like at seven, at age eleven he could remember things rather clearly.

Ryo though, he'd only been four at the time. He shouldn't have remembered, yet he did. He didn't talk about _it_ , yet it obviously affected him negatively. Even at age eleven, the age Takashi was when the even occurred, Ryo was still seeing a counselor for what happened, but family members had been told not to ignore the fact Akira once exited in their lives. At times, Takashi's younger brother would act out in an inappropriate manner, lashing out at someone, blaming people.

It didn't help that Shirogane Hiroshi and his wife both disappeared after the event, as neither could cope with the loss of Akira. It angered Takashi that they both did that, taking off rather than dealing with their grief, leaving their two other children to be raised by their grandparents. A lot of blame fell on Takashi's mother, who took off later than Hiroshi did, so she may have disappeared because everyone blamed her, and honestly thought she was doing her best.

If only he knew that the truth wasn't anywhere as simple as he thought.

It was his anger which at age eighteen brought him out searching for Hiroshi, having finished his basic training and choosing to purposefully transfer out to a different garrison where he'd heard rumors from other soldiers that they'd seen Hiroshi. That anger, it simply wouldn't go away, the way he felt towards the man, and he wanted to confront him.

However, he found himself ignored by Professor Kogane, for his father was going by Kogane Hiroshi when he attempted to talk to him, the man pretending to not know who he was. It was painful and even got him into a bit of trouble as Iverson didn't like the fact some strange kid was pestering one of his professors. That was how he met Matt, who was not only a student at the time, but hung out typically where the professors worked on their various projects.

"How come you're pestering Professor Kogane like you are?" Matt had simply been curious, but Takashi had been furious. The family head, Takashi's grandfather, he had lectured about losing his temper.

"That's not his name!"

"That's very much his name. I should know, as that man's my father!" Takashi flopped down into a chair.

"Wait. So, does that mean you're Keith's older brother?"

"What?" Takashi flinched. His entire body stiffened, not understanding this revelation at all. His eyes closed, imagining that his father had – when _it_ happened – run away to have an affair with another woman. It hurt, hurt deeply. Takashi took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself, yet the anger and frustration he felt towards his own father, it simply wouldn't go away.

Matt looked at him cautiously then and hadn't said anything more. Thus, Takashi resorted to spying on Hiroshi, using tactics that his grandfather personally taught him, and managed to go unnoticed by Iverson. That led him to the little shack out in the desert, and he hung back, unsure about confronting the man, so he instead waited until Hiroshi left to investigate.

He was greeted when he went in by a smiling child.

To be exact, the smiling child wasn't smiling as soon as he realized that Takashi wasn't who he'd expected. The child also hid, but Takashi could also see that the child wasn't around seven like he'd expected. No, the child was around Akira and Ryo's age. More specifically, the child, through some unexplained reason was Akira. Keith and Akira were the same people.

After all, that child looked exactly like Ryo, although a bit malnourished and filthy, but he recognized the facial features which were just like his identical twin. Worse, the place his father and Akira were living in was far from ideal living arrangements for a child. Something was definitely wrong with the situation. The thoughts crossing his mind weren't at all pleasant.

Takashi felt sick.

The young man knelt there, going to one knee as he looked Akira in the eye, or attempted to do so. Akira peeked out from behind the small couch, cautiously taking in the situation, but not making a sound. After a few minutes, his younger brother came out slightly, now leaning against one arm to get a better look at Takashi instead of the couch, his eyes more curious than frightened.

The young man swallowed. "Say, do you know who I am?"

This resulted in a squeak as the child dived behind the couch arm again. Takashi sighed, wondering what he'd done wrong. Instead of giving up, he sat down on the ground cross legged, relaxing his body in an attempt to make Akira feel more comfortable. Eventually, his younger brother peeked out again, the curiosity even more evident.

"So, what's your name?" He had to try something. Akira though said nothing, but instead came out further than he had the last time he'd come out, this time leaning on both hands. "My name. It's Shirogane Takashi."

Akira's eyes blinked, and suddenly Takashi wondered if Akira actually knew Japanese, with how strangely he was acting, but then. "Shi…" The sound made his eyes blink, but a smile starts to spread across his face despite the fact the situation didn't seem very good, what with how dirty and thin Akira looked. "Shi… Shiro!"

A smile spread across his younger brother's face as he began to spam what he just said, startling Takashi. "Um… Takashi…"

"Shiro!" Akira crawled forward then, on his hand and knees, very unlike a child his age, but then almost crawled into Takashi's lap. The eleven-year-old's palms pressed into Shiro's legs as he leaned in, his face getting right into Takashi's face. Akira also became very loud but smiled as he said it again. "Shiro!"

"Um. Yeah. Okay." The next thing Shiro knew, two thin arms wrapped around his waist as his younger brother snuggled in close. The young man swallowed, hesitantly reaching out to ruffle Akira's hair. For some reason, his younger brother was still acting as if he were still four. His mind instantly went to abuse. "Hey, do you want to go for a ride?"

"Yay!" Akira latched on even more, but somehow Shiro managed to extract him from around his waist. He took the child out of the bike he borrowed from the garrison, and put the helmet on Akira's head, making sure it was tight, before taking off. He wanted to close his eyes, to try and understand why his father would let things get this way.

" _I already lost respect for him, but this…_ "

Upon arriving, he checked the bike back in but headed to his quarters, his younger brother's hand wrapping around the back of Shiro's belt. The young man couldn't help but feel relief, due to the fact Akira didn't seem to be in a state where he shouldn't be left alone, and yet his father had left the child out there in the desert, unsupervised.

He grabbed some items for bathing, and started towards the showers, hoping nobody would be out and about this late at night. Only, he found himself bumping into Matt Holt. "What the hell are you doing with Professor Kogane's kid?"

Akira winced, and Shiro glared at the cadet. "Quiznack. Not so loud."

"Oh, because you're afraid of getting caught?"

"No. You're scaring Akira."

"His name's Keith."

Shiro frowned, before turning his head to look at his younger brother. "Do you prefer to be called Akira, or Keith." He heard the muttered reply. "Keith it is then."

He continued along, not bothered by the fact Matt was watching. He followed after. "Where are you going?"

"He's in need of a bath."

"What the hell?"

"Quiznack, could you stop using that kind of language in front of him?" Shiro turned his head slightly as Keith ducked to the other side, still clutching onto his belt. "And stop following me. This is none of your concern."

"Yeah. There is nothing concerning about a grown man interacting with an autistic preteen of whom he's not blood related to."

"Excuse me." Shiro stopped short, turning to glare at Matt. "Did I _not_ tell you that man's my father? And what's this autistic"

"You _don't_ have the same last name. You're claiming to be his brother, but you don't know what autism is."

Shiro pushed open the door to the locker room. "If you're going to stick around, watch the door."

"You're going to get bit, but have charges brought against you."

The young man's eyes narrowed, glaring at the cadet. "Bite me."

A gasp came from Keith's mouth as if Shiro said something wrong. He wasn't quite sure what it was. Matt sighed. "Yeah, you know biting is bad, don't you Keith." Keith continued to hide, but he still followed Shiro into the locker room. Matt's breath went in. "You're really going to do this?"

"He's my brother, and he's filthy. When's the last time he had a bath?"

"The last…" Matt took a deep breath. "I think of his last physical. Professor Kagone, he…"

"Is an abusive bastard?" The words came out.

"I'm leaving. This isn't right."

"I'm not some pedo!" Shiro's voice strained. "Look, I got proof." His hand fumbled for his wallet, so he could find the picture he kept of Keith's twin. Only, he found his younger brother's attention turned towards what he was reaching for, and Keith was now reaching for it, but getting rather feely, making Shiro yelp. "Keith!"

Matt had a rather unimpressed look on his face, as Shiro tried to extract himself from his younger brother's grip, but how shrill his voice went was honestly embarrassing.

"Look-like! I want to see the picture of look-like!" A giggle escaped Keith's lips.

The color drained from both teen's faces. Matt spoke quickly. "He spoke."

"Of course he spoke. Why wouldn't he? He was slower than Ryo in speaking full sentences, but he finally mastered…" Shiro frowned, pushing Keith's hand away. "How did he know about the picture?"

"Picture?"

"The look-like picture. But with short hair and… what does not malnourished mean."

"What the…" Matt frowned. "Okay. I don't know. I've heard Keith talk when he thought he was alone with his dad, but you two just met."

"We haven't just met. I was there the day this little twerp was born. He…" Shiro swallowed. "Look, could we not talk about family?" Again, Keith's hand tried going into the pocket, making Shiro yelp. "Keith. If you let me get my wallet out of my pants, I'll let you see the picture of you… well, sort of you."

"Sort of me. Look-like." His younger brother finally lets him pull out the wallet, and Shiro opened it up, revealing the picture Ryo had taken for publicity purposes that he'd snitched so that he could have a picture of his younger brother when he left, much to Ryo's embarrassment. The other twin – he'd likely find Keith's strange behavior embarrassing. Keith pointed at the picture of Ryo. "Me! Me! It's me!"

Matt tiptoed over to peek, only for Keith to get on the other side, glaring at the other teen. The ginger haired teen found himself sighing, pushing up his glasses. "Good grief. It's true."

"Told you I wasn't lying."

"Yes. But does he know or understand?"

"What do you mean?"

Matt took a deep sigh. "Ask him who you are?"

Shiro turned, pointing at himself. "Keith, who am I?"

"Friend!"

"See. He doesn't know who you are. I told you, he's autistic."

"I honestly have no clue what that means."

"It means he's going to bite you."

"Seriously?" Shiro found himself disliking Matt.

"Why did you call your father a bastard?"

"What does bastard mean?"

"Uh…" Shiro placed his hands over Keith's ears but felt his younger brother attempt to pull them off. When that didn't work, he took off ten feet away, giggling as he did so. The teen sighed, tilting his head forward's Keith. "You mean the man who didn't care how filthy or under nourished his kid got but left him alone out in the desert?"

"Oh, Keith can take care of himself out there. Professor Kogane takes him on his archeological digs."

"What? My father…" Shiro startled as two arms wrapped around his waist, giggling as he did so.

"Yeah. Taught Keith survival skills. Keith may be autistic, but he's not stupid. You've not seen your dad or your brother for some time, have you?"

"Okay. No, I haven't. And, just what is this autism you're talking about."

"I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's why he's as filthy and skinny as he is."

"I don't follow."

"He hates baths, and he's a very picky eater." Matt folded his arms. "Professor Kogane, he tries, but as I said, you're going to get bit."

Shiro glared at the other teen, not liking the sing song voice. "Seriously? How hard is it to get Keith to take a bath?"

Matt started laughing, nearly falling over, which caused Keith to laugh. "You… you really think it is possible?"

"She had no problem." Shiro turned to Keith. "Bath time."

"No."

"Come on, we'll…"

"Game?"

Shiro blinked, wondering how Keith understood what he just said. "Yeah."

"I like games." Keith titled his head. "It's like rain. I like playing in the rain."

Matt took a deep breath. "Okay. That's like, the second time he's done that. I mean, know what you're thinking. It's weird."

Yet it didn't feel weird to Shiro. He walked over to one of the showers, testing the temperature while Keith watched. He had to pull Keith's hand away from playing in the water before the water was just right but also had to prevent the preteen from rushing in with his clothes on. Shiro turned to Matt. "Could you?"

"Yeah. Not a pedo. I'll watch the door."

Somehow he convinced Keith step by step that things were not okay, or that things would be better done. In truth, he found himself slightly wet, while Keith was dressed in baggy clothing, as Shiro only had his own oversized clothes. When he was done, Matt's eye brow shot up. "Wow. How?"

"How she did it?"

"Who's she?"

"Mom." Shiro got down to Keith's eyelevel by bending over. "Hey. You want something to eat?"

Keith nodded his head, and the three headed off to the cafeteria. Matt cleared his throat. "Shirogane, I don't think this is a good idea. You could have gotten into serious trouble back in the locker room if someone came who didn't know what was going on, but there are more people around in the cafeteria, even this late at night."

Shiro stared. "And what? He needs to eat."

"Yes, but…"

"Eat, eat, eat…" Keith's mind was occupied as he tugged Shiro along, almost as if he knew where the cafeteria was. He started to sing a silly song which involved cats. On the way, he stopped at the vending machine, eyeballing the gummies. He pointed at the candy. "Eat?"

Shiro tilted his head. "You can have that if you eat the other stuff I get you first."

He paid no mind to the fact others were watching, looking on nervously. Keith nodded his head, and Shiro got the gummies. Matt sighed, following close by, but looking rather nervous. Shiro got a trey of food which included nuggets, pea's and macaroni, plus a milk. They sat down at one of the tables. He pointed at the food. "You want a gummy, you try one of the foods there. If you like the food, finish eating it. If not, you don't have to."

Shiro's throat tightened when he saw Keith stick his fingers in the macaroni and cheese, only for his brother to shake his fingers. "Ewe." Keith looked up at him while his brother stared in shock. "There, I tried it. I didn't like it."

Matt fell out of the chair laughing for some reason. Shiro however, glared at Keith. "Doesn't count. You've got to put it into your mouth." He was about to say with a fork, only for Keith to pick up a noodle and shove it into his mouth. He chewed, then swallowed, then started to reach for more. The young man grabbed Keith's hand. "Wait"

"But I like."

"Yeah, but use a spoon."

"Why?"

"Some foods are finger foods, others are not."

"Why?"

"Well, you can eat the nuggets with your fingers, but macaroni and cheese is messy, but it might be to hot to pick up with your fingers. It would hurt. It's also easier to eat that way."

"Okay. What's a spoon?"

Shiro stared, trying to ignore the fact Matt was laughing his head off. Letting out a sigh, he picked up the spoon and mimicked eating. Keith spooned the food into his mouth, chewing the macaroni and cheese, and got a gummy as a reward. He moved onto the peas, using the spoon, only for the peas to tumble out of his mouth. The young man sighed. "So, I take it you didn't like that?"

Keith shook his head no.

"Well, when you don't like something, you don't spit it out like that." Shiro watched Keith get a horrified look. Letting out a sigh, he lifted up a napkin, demonstrating what to do. Weirdly enough, Keith put more peas into his mouth just so he could mimic the action. Matt found the situation completely amusing, which Shiro found simply annoying.

However, before he could lecture Matt about the situation, Shiro found himself grabbed from behind and shoved roughly to the ground. Keith let out a screech, and a yelp was heard as the preteen bit down on his captor's arm. Shiro took a deep breath. "Keith, no!"

His brother stopped but quickly hid under the table, while Shiro found himself handcuffed and pulled away. He swallowed, hoping that Keith wouldn't take off. Instead, the child simply stared from underneath, his hands over his head. The others not involved were made to clear the cafeteria. Soon, his father came into the room, completely panicked, his eyes instantly going to Keith.

The next thing Shiro knew, Shirogane Hiroshi was having a very loud conversation with Keith about talking to strangers, while Matt's father came over to lecture him, looking on in confusion as he watched. Anger boiled in Shiro's gut as he watched Keith hunker down more. He couldn't help but loose it. "Oto-sama! Stop scaring Akira!"

Shiro watched his father turn, only to see a lock he never thought he'd ever see on his father's face. Horror, utter horror. One of Iverson's eyebrow's shot up. Suddenly, Keith pushed past his father, diving at Shiro and clinging, his small arms wrapping around his older brother's waist. "Shiro!"

"It's okay."

"It's not okay Takashi." Hiroshi was definitely pissed.

"Shiro and I aren't strangers!" Keith clung on tighter, tears starting to well in his eyes. "Don't take him away. He didn't do anything wrong. Please!"

"Wrong? He abducted you." Iverson took a deep breath.

It was then that Shiro saw his father's face change, panicking about something else. Keith said, "Shirp's safe."

And then his younger brother stuck his tongue out at his boss. Hiroshi's voice tightened. "Keith, remember what I said about strangers."

"Strangers are people you've never met before."

"Have you met Takashi before?'

Keith's grip loosened, but Shiro didn't like the idea that his father was going to screw him over. "Yes."

"He knows." Matt piped up, receiving a glare from his own father and Iverson. "I mean, he doesn't know Takashi is, well, you know. But he knows Takashi. It's kind of weird, how Keith knew things that Takashi was thinking." The looks on Iverson, Hiroshi and the father of Matt's faces suddenly lost all color, but the horror returned to Shiro's father's face. Matt cleared his voice. "Did I say something wrong?"

Iverson glanced at the man looking on in horror. "Hiroshi, I'm not sure how to ask for an explanation."

"Explanation. That man is…"

"Takashi!" Hiroshi's voice made him flinch.

"Don't lecture me! Not when you've been gone for seven years! Not when _you_ owe me an explanation!"

"Not in front of Keith!"

"I'll have the garrison councilor come in."

Hiroshi took a deep breath. "Keith, your councilor is coming. I need you to go with her."

"Shiro… he…" Keith suddenly clung tighter, sobbing full and hard.

It was then that Shiro's first lie to Keith came, a lie to prevent someone precious from getting hurt. It turned out it wasn't _really_ a lie, but he didn't know at the time it wasn't. "Hey. Keith. I'll be okay."

"Promise? Promise that I'll see you again?"

That was yet another lie, as he didn't honestly know if he would be allowed to stay. If Hiroshi had his way… "Yeah. I'll see you again."

The councilor came, taking Keith away, his younger brother pleased as in his mind the situation was solved. Hiroshi crossed his arms, as the others in the room took their distance. Iverson wasn't allowing the handcuff's to be undone yet. "You will _not_ be seeing each other again."

"You're _really_ going to keep me from my brother? After you've kept us away for what, seven years?"

"Four."

"What?"

"It took me three years to find Akira again."

"You…" Shiro suddenly felt bad, guilty even. Someone took Ryo and Keith away seven years ago for unknown reasons, though it might have been tied to the fact they were the children of the Shirogani heir. The guilt fled though, upon realizing something. He looked his father in the eye. "Wait. You never gave up on finding him. After what happened?"

"I never gave up."

"What about mom? You didn't think she'd want to know you found Akira? Do you know how much she was hurting?"

"I know full well how much his disappearance hurt her, and I kept her in the loop. She knew I was looking, but she never gave up either."

"She never gave up? She disappeared as well?"

"Your mother had reasons, again that I can't explain. It's complicated."

"Complicated? The brother I thought was dead for seven years, I see him after all this time, and now you're telling me I can't see him? Yet here you are, not giving me a reason?"

"You can't see him because he doesn't know you're his brother. Hell, when I found him, he didn't know I was his father. But I'll take him not knowing who I am Takashi over him remember what happened to him any day."

"That's not a reason."

"It's a reason."

"No, it's not. If you don't want me to see my brother, then go ahead and have me arrested and tossed into jail." Shiro watched his father pale. "What? You actually have a conscious?"

"Wow. That's just cruel." Matt sighed.

"Shush." Matt's father took a deep breath. "Might I offer an alternative solution, as one of the few people actually completely apprised of the situation Hiroshi?" Shiro watched his father's eye – the one which was scarred, suddenly twitch. "Why not introduce Shiro as your student, Its not uncommon for us professors to take on students."

Shiro closed his eyes. He was surprised to find his father agreeing but didn't know the mess the man's disappearance would cause a year later, or how hard the year after that would be for Keith.


	8. Moon Child's Family

He couldn't look any of the three in the eye. He simply huddled in the back storage room, his knees remaining pulled to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around them in a protective manner. The old woman was gentle with him, yet being touched by her wasn't the same as being touched by Shiro, or Allura for that matter. Even though their touch was felt different, he at least felt comfortable.

Keith took in the place or at least tried to. His head swam, so the only real grasp he got of the place was how small the place was as he attempted to come out of one of his episodes. He honestly didn't want to move, knowing the first interaction with his "family" ended up resulting in one of those episodes. Thankfully, on the Castle of Lions, he'd not had an episode, at least one of this caliber.

" _At least you didn't have the episode in front of Allura._ " Keith let out a sigh, not exactly being soothed by such thought, as it only brought back the fact Shiro and Allura were close in a way he wanted to be with her, yet he cared about both and didn't wish to interfere. The thought though did get him to turn his face, and look the old woman in the eye.

His eyes blinked, his body straightening up slightly upon seeing the old woman's smile. "Everything is going to be okay."

Keith let his arms slide down, still slightly confused. No, he was more than confused, as this woman he didn't know actually told him she was his grandmother. She seemed happy to see him, and yet that didn't feel right. Nobody was ever happy to see him, but he was also confused as to why she was fine. Her hand reached out, taking one of his on her own.

The touch – it was soft, as her old hands were soft, but it was definitely gentle. In fact, he liked the feel of those soft hands, as it reminded him of the kittens he liked so much, but his father and Shiro never let him have. He sort of startled confused slightly, but he did know it made him feel better. Her touch drew Keith's eyes down but then drew them back up as he looked her in the eye. She then reached up and gently touched his face with the same soft hands, her soft smile continuing.

And yet he saw tears in her eyes. Keith swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Whatever for this time?"

"You're crying. I made you cry."

Her fingers pinched his cheek slightly, something he wasn't quite comfortable with. "Oh, you precious child. Precious moon child."

Keith swallowed. "Moon child?"

"You were born the night of a lunar eclipse during the eclipse. We almost lost you."

The red paladin's eyes blinked, processing the information. He wanted to say, " _wait, that means you knew my mother_ ," only for nothing to come out at all, except for a sharp squeak. She gently stroked his ear, towards the back near the tip. If Keith was a cat, he was sure the action would make him purr, and yet this woman – despite saying she was his grandmother – was a stranger.

He closed his eyes, his throat tightening.

Only, his stomach grumbled, making Keith's eyes snap open, a blush spreading across his cheeks. His mouth opened again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, sweet child." The old woman stood. "I was just about to start lunch." Her thin fingers reached out to grasp the edge of his jacket, while Keith's eyes remained glued to the ground. Being treated like a child, it didn't sit right, yet there was something about older folk, those old enough to be grandparents. "Come. Why don't you come with me into the living area while oji-san and Kenji close up shop."

Keith felt his throat tighten, his hands jolting up. "No. No."

The old woman simply continued smiling at him, while the male members of his family simply watched on. Somehow she kept ahold of his sleeve as his hands moved, and his fingers latched onto the sleeve of her clothing, as he looked at the ground, feeling ever so guilty. A gentle hand brushed a lock of hair away. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Burden…"

"You're not a burden."

"What about the store?" Keith's head shot up, only to hear a chuckle from his grandfather.

"Don't worry. Don't worry."

"Yes, but…"

The old woman stood up, her fingers still gasping onto his sleeve. "Come. Come into the living area with me."

Keith stood, not wanting to disobey his elder, and followed her through one of the doors. His eyes widened, as his grandmother led him into an old fashioned kitchen. The smell of spices sent a comforting wave, but his eyes soon drifted over to the main area that made up the missing part he'd seen from the front area of the shop. The living room was huge, being about twice the size of the small shack he lived in with his father, and the past year before joining Voltron.

The small kitchen was at one end, but a mudroom was there, which led into the bathroom. Tilting his head, Keith saw a strange tub separated from the toilet. The entire place seemed old and worn, but not the type of old and worn which was crumbling down around oneself as one slept.

Instead, the floors were covered by strange mats Keith remembered being in the dojo that Shiro sometimes took him to. He watched his grandmother remove her shoes, and followed suit, slightly confused, only to remember Shiro drilling into his head that in Japan one removed one's shoes entering the house, and htat it wasn't simply his legal guaridan's OCD nature. In the living area was a small TV, a small coffee table, and pillows surrounding, making the place look super comfy, but also inviting.

What drew his eye was the stairs, which went up to the upstairs area above the shop. The stairs were far more narrow than the ones in America, but an intricate drawer system was in place. The wood of the stairs was worn, as were the drawers. He wanted to open and close them, the brass ornate handles drawing his attention. His grandmother seemed to notice.

"You were always drawn to those drawers when you were little."

Keith reached up, scratching his head with one finger. "Sorry."

"Sweetheart, you don't need to apologize for anything."

"I'm sorry."

"Just make yourself comfortable."

Which felt wrong. It didn't feel right to make his grandmother do everything for lunch. He turned to look at her, his eyes wide. "Can I help?" The look on her face, it wasn't the smiling face she had before, but a frown. He felt guilty, looking at the ground. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"Takashi said in his letter that you know little about your cultural heritage."

Keith glanced away. " _That's possibly a good thing. I mean, do I really want to know some of the things the Galra do?_ "

He couldn't help but feel out of place as the old woman said, "Just relax. I take pride in being a _shufu_ , so you need not worry."

"What is…" Keith glanced away, frowning as his arms crossed. He flopped onto the floor, crossing his legs as he stared at the wall, his mouth forming into a pout, still confused as to what was going on. He looked at the wall of stair steps, swallowing as he did so. Something felt familiar about the place, yet no memories came to him. Hanging his head, he didn't say anything.

" _Mago_ ," his grandmother said, drawing his attention back to her. "I said to relax, and you are not relaxing."

Keith swallowed, knowing full well how hard it was for him to relax. His eyes darted away again, but he removed his jacket, before proceeding to lie down on the floor, letting his head rest on his arms and jacket. The floor was rather comfortable, making him not want to move from his side, and he started to relax, just as his grandfather and cousin came through the door.

He watched his cousin walk over, sitting down on one of the pillows. The young man watched him, as their grandfather moved over to the kitchen to talk to his wife. Keith's mouth pressed into a frown, hearing some parts of their conversation. "To have both of them back…"

"I know. I never imagined we'd be so lucky."

"Can we really not…"

"No. I don't know how long we can keep things secret, from everyone in the village and…"

Keith felt his entire body stiffen up, his throat tightening painfully. His mind buzzed, thinking suddenly it had all been too good to be true, but Shiro's words about getting hurt ringing in his head. He wasn't wanted, so, "…I'm leaving."

He sat up, planning on walking out the back door instead of one of the closed doors.

"What?" Kenji startled. "Why?"

"If I leave, you don't have to hide the fact I'm here." Keith was now sitting up. "I get it. I get that I'm some kind of shame."

"Some…" His grandmother's voice tensed, just as he started to stand up. "You sit down right now, young man. You're not leaving."

This caused the red paladin to freeze. Kenji swallowed, glancing at his grandparents. Keith could see the disappointment in his grandfather's eyes and didn't want to see the disappointment in her eyes. The man spoke, turning to look at his wife. "It seems worse than Takashi explained in his letter."

At the mention of Shiro's name, the eyes of Keith's cousin widened, his mouth opening, only to say nothing. The look on his face said the red paladin was acting strangely. Keith's voice strained. "Explained what?"

"That you are sensitive about certain things. That there were certain things to be careful of bringing up." Her voice drew him up, but the look wasn't the disappointment he expected, but honest worry. Even his grandfather seemed worried, which made Keith feel as if he'd misread the situation, as per the norm. " _Mago_ , we don't want you to leave."

"You're keeping the fact I'm here from the villagers, are you not."

"Takashi asked that we do." The second mentioning of Shiro's name, again by his grandfather seemed to perk Kenji's curiosity, yet he also didn't speak up.

"Why?" Keith looked at the ground.

"Do you really want the villagers prying into your personal business?" his cousin piped up.

"Kenji…"

"Sorry. I know I'm speaking out of turn, and it might not be my business, but it is true."

Keith sat, his hands gripping his pants tightly. Again, he found himself avoiding eye contact. A silence fell over the room, only for to be broken by the question from his grandmother about whether he would stay as expected, and he simply nodded his head. He kept shifting back and forth regarding his level of comfort and discomfort, which he honestly didn't like.

Eventually, though, his grandmother came and set the table while his grandfather sat down. He didn't look anyone in the eye, nor could he ask questions about the functions of the sticks and food in front of him, which was ever so foreign. Glancing up, he watched Kenji pick up his chopsticks, and how he ate, before mimicking the behavior

Kenji started to mix some kind of green substance in what Keith knew was soy sauce, and proceeded to start doing it himself, only to startle when his grandmother clicked her tongue. "Kenji. You know better."

His cousin stopped, looking him right in the eye. Keith though, found himself completely embarrassed and bowed as Shiro told him quite a few times was correct. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

"I knew it!"

"Kenji!" The old man's tone of voice rang out.

Their grandmother clicked her tongue again. "On top of the fact you _don't_ point your chopsticks at people, that wasn't a nice thing to do."

"Sorry, Keith. I just wanted to confirm something."

"So you could ridicule your cousin."

"I…" Kenji paused, and Keith couldn't look him in the eye. "I just wanted to know. He was mimicking what I did, so I thought he didn't know our customs. That means he wasn't raised here in Japan, right?"

"Kenji!" This seemed to highly disappoint their grandmother, making Keith look up, rather confused.

"I just…" Kenji sighed. "I'm not going to make fun of him for it. Honestly. I mean, I do find his behavior amusing, but…"

"Eri!" A voice came from outside, startling Keith, making him knock over some of the lunch dishes. His grandmother and grandfather startled at the voice. "Eri-chan!"

"Kenji. Both of your upstairs. Quickly!"

Kenji moved quickly, tugging at Keith's sleeve and pulling the red paladin up the stairs he'd shown interest in earlier. The red jacket lay forgotten on the floor, the mess still on the table. The eighteen-year-old couldn't help but muse over the fact he'd gotten only a few bites in but was also still hungry.

They arrived upstairs, and Kenji pulled him away from the stairs so that they couldn't easily hear the conversation from down below. Keith slunk down to the ground, noticing the rather barren room they were in. He didn't ask, simply leaning against the wall. Kenji sat down nearby.

Suddenly, he flopped over to his side, hiding his eyes, not liking how he was mentally stressing out over something which should have been so simple, yet was becoming more and more complicated. He hadn't expected Kenji to speak. "You don't like me, do you?"

"What?" Keith peeked out of one eye.

"What?" Keith opened one eye, peeking out from under his arm. The other teen, his cousin seemed upset by the idea.

"When I…" Kenji took a deep breath as Keith watched. "My reason for prying into the fact you're unaware of your own culture…" That comment made the red paladin cover his eye. "I wasn't trying to be mean."

"What were you trying to do then?" It was an honest question, one that Keith wasn't sure he wanted an answer to but knew it was also automatic.

"I'm really not bothered by the fact you're oblivious to certain things. I mean, that's part of who you are."

"Could you possibly get to the point?"

"Are you going to be okay?"

Keith sat up, glaring at his cousin, not at all pleased at that question. He didn't want to think about the fact he wasn't anywhere near Shiro or Allura right now, but that felt like an odd question to ask. "Excuse me?"

"You know. Are you going to be okay interacting with the rest of the village, not knowing how to properly interact with them?" Kenji glanced away, his facial features indicating the possibility of worry.

"Wait. The reason you…" Keith swallowed, glancing away.

"Yeah. That, and I wanted to know more about you. You're family, but I've never met you. And…" Kenji glanced away. "You look like Ryo. What is your connection with him and Takashi nii-chan."

Keith froze. "You call Shiro nii-chan?"

It kind of hurt, knowing another person other than Ryo was treating Shiro like a sibling. Kenji titled his head. "That. It's one of those cultural things. Thinking about it though, that rather makes my question rather stupid, as the answer is rather obvious."

"It is?" Keith glanced at the ground, not liking what was said. "It's obvious that I'm the reason Ryo's pissed off at Shiro?"

"Uh…" Kenji's tone of voice said that wasn't what he was thinking of, but Keith wasn't able to read it. "Explain, because that's _not_ what I was thinking of."

"It isn't? Ryo was mad because he thought I'd replaced him." The red paladin still wasn't able to read Kenji's expression, beyond the fact it was that look Lance kind of got when he was dumbfounded by something Keith said, yet not quiet. "It was when Shiro became my legal guardian."

Kenji shifted uncomfortably. "So…"

"That's why Ryo was mad at me earlier."

His cousin's eyes blinked, then Kenji took a deep breath. "Actually Ak… Keith, I don't think he was mad at you. More of, surprised to see you."

"Oh. Well, he would have been soon."

Kenji shook his head, then cleared his throat. "Is it true though that Takashi nii-chan is actually alive?"

"Yes, Shiro's alive." Keith's head tilted. "You called him nii-chan again?"

"Because Takashi's my… and your older cousin." The other teen went to look out the window, his eyes narrowing.

"Then it's okay to call Shiro nii-chan if I want to?"

Kenji gave him another one of those shocked looks, but then looked out the window, letting out a sharp sound. His voice dropped slightly as if he didn't want someone outside hearing. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Because he's not my real brother? Because it's not fair to Ryo?"

"Ryo and his friends are major jerks, so you really shouldn't care what any of them think."

"But, Ryo's family?"

"Keith, everyone here is family. The entire village is. It's that kind of place. Everyone knows everyone else's business, but everyone is everyone's cousin somehow or another. That's why granny doesn't want anyone to know you're here. That, and…" Kenji nodded his head. "Take a quick glance out the window, but try not to let anyone see you."

The red paladin snuck over, peeking around the window frame carefully. His eyes widened, seeing the news van parked outside of the house. He turned to his cousin. "Why are they here?"

"Takashi. Everyone knows Takashi's back, and that he's not dead. He's a local hero. Actually, Ryo and Takashi are both local celebrities, one's known across the entirety of Japan, if not outside the country as well." Kenji took a deep breath. "Just, don't worry about it."


	9. Moon People

A few leaves fell from the tree above, unnoticed by the small group walking in the beautiful alcove. A soft, creaking sound was heard, making the eyes dart up just as a small figure fell from the tree above. One of the young men reached out, catching the small bundle of energy and skirts with ease. Looking down at the young damsel, the young man found his dark eyebrow shooting up. "Princess Allura?"

Kyra's bright blue eyes widened, seeing the young daughter of King Altor in her older brother's arms, looking up at Viron with all of the childish musters she could manage. Allura's own eyes were wide in amazement, not saying anything at first. Then, her small mouth opened in awe, only to say nothing as Viron gently set her down.

The young princess proceeded to straighten out her skirts, making sure they were neat and presentable, while Viron brushed the leaves which had fallen into his dark locks of hair away. Allura let out a deep breath, pleased at how well she'd straightened out her skirts, not noticing at all the leaf stuck in her soft, white locks of hair. Viron sighed, reaching down to pluck the leaf out of Allura's hair, drawing the princess' attention to him.

"You're so much like Kyra when she was your age, aren't you?"

Allura's eyes blinked, realizing that Viron had said something to her. She turned, delighted that one of her father's knights had actually said something to her, particularly one as popular and as famous as Viron. Kyra couldn't help but let her mouth twist into a smile, knowing that look. In her usual childish manner, Allura spoke up. "Sir Viron, will you marry me?"

Kyra held back her laughter, watching her older brother's facial features twitch slightly, knowing full well that the princess' sudden declaration had taken him aback when there were in truth very few things that ever did. "Uh…"

" _How is he going to handle this one?_ "

Viron took a deep breath, before gently moving to one knee so he was at the Princess' eye level. "Dear princess…" Kyra watched the princess' facial features twist up, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "I'm not the one."

The other members of their group, particularly the young females giggled, taking amusement at the young princess' look of hurt, the kind a child got when things didn't go the way they thought they would. Her eyes darted away, and Allura's mouth formed into a rather cute, childish pout. "Why not?"

"Because I wouldn't steal you away from the person you're meant to be with."

This, of course, brought cooing sounds from the other females in the group, but the male's Kyra noticed rolled their eyes. Her mouth twisted into a smile, knowing full well Viron was waiting to soul bond, so the girls in question were out of luck, yet they couldn't help to still fall for his charms. It was something her older brother believed in, but something she laughed as a rather silly notion.

Allura's cheeks puffed out, and she folded her arms across her chest. Her bright eyes darted around, then settled on Kyra. For some reason, Kyra felt the princess had become upset with her for some odd reason. There was no telling how a child's mind might work, but she didn't push the issue. Instead, the small princess walked off, her small arms crossing her chest, and her cheeks puffed out.

A few days later Kyra found herself relaxing in the grove with her brother, listening to the banter of the Blue Paladin. Blaytz was a strange person, super friendly with everyone. Viron leaned up against one of the tree's napping, having finished just a few minutes ago a vigorous training session with King Altor himself. A soft snore came from his chest, and Kyra closed her eyes, concentrating on Blaytz over exaggeration of Voltron's latest escapades.

The rustling of leaves from one of the bushes made Kyra open her bright blue eyes, but drew them over to the bush in question. Her eyes widened, catching a familiar head of white hair. Then, the princess darted to another bush, thinking very much she was hidden. Kyra brushed it off, catching out of the corner of her eye that the princess was sneaking towards Viron.

Allura's small, dark fingers reached out, and it was then that Kyra realized she was reaching to touch the tip of Viron's ears. Before she could warn her brother, she watched him startle, waking up to look up at the princess, who seemed rather disapointed. "Princess. What are you doing?"

"Ear tickles."

"Princess, that's very much inappropriate?"

Blaytz attention perked. "Ear tickles. That sounds…"

Viron covered Allura's ears. "Not helping. That's rather…"

Allura pushed his hand's away. "If it's inappropriate, then why do you and Lady Kyra do it all the time."

Kyra pushed herself up, her hand reaching out for her young charge. "Come. We need to talk."

The princess' cheeks puffed out, but she took Kyra's hand. The young female knight could feel the stickiness of the child's hand, and wondered what other mischief Allura had been up to, but shuddered at the idea of a child stroking ears with such sticky hands. She didn't know that there would be a little one from which she didn't mind that from.

When Kyra thought things were private, she stopped, sitting down on the bench. She pulled the princess into her arms, gently holding her as Allura's mother would have done. She rested her head on top of the child's head, while Allura continued to pout, her arms crossing. It was then that Kyra reached up, touching Allura's ear in the soothing manner a parent would do for their child.

"It's not fair."

"What's not fair?"

"That Sir Viron won't let me touch his ears, let alone let me marry him."

"Princess…" Kyra stopped her actions, setting the princess aside. She wasn't sure to say, only to hear her brother clearing his voice. For once, he was very uncomfortable, but Blaytz was rather amused.

Allura's eyes widened, and she asked her question again. " _Sir Viron, will you marry me?_ "

Her brother got down one knee. "Someday, princess, you'll grow up. When that day comes, you'll likely meet someone you're fated to meet, but that person's not me."

"Why not?"

"Well, do you not want a soul bonding like your father and mother had?" Viron watched the princess's eyes brighten, knowing full well the level of adoration the child had for her parents, even after the queen had passed on. He took her hands in his own, being as gentle as possible. "Personally, I'm looking forward to that day, because I hope your bonding rivals that of your parents."

Allura still seemed confused, but a smile spread across her face. Suddenly, she lunged at the young knight, hugging him, catching him off guard again. "Okay." She then pulled away, but there was a frown this time, more curious than angry. "Are you and Lady Kyra lovers."

Kyra burst into laughter as the color drained from her brother's face. "Why would you ask that?"

"Ear tickles."

The female knight pushed her lips together. "Ear tickles aren't just for lovers. You like ear tickles from your father, and tickling his ears, don't you?" Allura's eyes widened in surprise as if Kyra had discovered some kind of secret. "And I tickle your ears whenever you're upset, just like your mother used to do."

The confusion was still there, and Blaytz let out a laugh. "Princess Allura, Sir Viron and Lady Kyra are siblings."

"Oh."


	10. Soul Bonding

" _Someday, princess, you'll grow up. When that day comes, you'll likely meet someone you're fated to meet, but that person's not me._ "

In all honesty, the person Allura soul bonded with was the last person she would have expected outside of perhaps Lance.

Human's, after all, had strangely shaped ears which were rounded instead of pointed, but Keith's physical features were less than desirable as well. The red paladin was scrawny, to the point his bone's poked through slightly, but he was also gangly and awkward. Personality wise when she met him, Keith was majorly distant to those around him.

Allura couldn't help but contrast Keith with the black paladin. Sure, Shiro also had those rounded ears that humans had, but his other physical features were desirable. He had broad shoulders, and firm muscles, with a well defined chin. The black paladin's movement was smooth, but Shiro also seemed comfortable with the way his body moved. He was also more personable than Keith.

Yet, it hadn't been Shiro that she'd soul bonded with, but Keith.

She wondered if one's soul bond was something one fought against like she did, purposefully looking for some kind of excuse to reject Keith. Allura certainly jumped on him being part Galra really quick, but that likely just added to the list of undesirable features about Keith. At least, until that very moment, she thought she'd lose him forever.

In truth, she'd also realized she loved his undesirable qualities just as much as his desirable ones. Keith was, for example, an interesting person to talk to once you did get him started, but he put a lot of thought into what he said when he did say it. He was trust worthy, but his sense of duty and honor was something to be admired, but also something she was sure her father would have liked.

And….

She'd come to kind of like Keith's ears, which she now thought were just slightly more pointed than the round ears of other human's, except for perhaps Shiro. She'd wanted to touch them once she'd accepted the soul bonding, yet she restrained herself. Keith, after all, wasn't from her culture, but that of Earth, and that of the Galra. She didn't know if the other cultures perceived the action with the same familial and romantic inclinations as her own.

But, there was also the fact Keith was uncomfortable being touched. He'd tensed up when she hugged him, yet she _had_ to hug him, to let him know how precious he was to her, although Allura didn't think he truly understood just how precious. He was also slightly leery of her, and she couldn't blame him with how she reacted to him being part Galra.

As she told him, it was her, not him, but she wondered if he truly understood what she meant by that.

When Shiro disappeared, she could feel the sorrow pouring off him, so she also knew Keith and the black paladin were close, somehow. She'd not quite figured it out until they met Sven. She hadn't noticed what she'd figured out because of the white hair and the scar, or the difference in the length of hair. Sven though had pure black hair and no scar, but his hair was the same length as Keith's roughly.

The reason the two were so close was simply that they were family.

Thus, she found herself watching Shiro carefully. Before she'd compared Keith to the black paladin, disappointed that Keith wasn't perfection like Shiro was, but now she wanted to watch how he interacted with Keith. She watched how Shiro rarely touched Keith, remember how when he did, it was as gentle and calmly as possible, but on Keith's terms.

She also talked to Shiro, trying to find out more about Earth, the place Keith came from, hoping to gain some clues in order to know the red paladin better. "What is Earth like?"

Shiro startled, his eyes blinking as if his mind were elsewhere. "What is Earth like? Well…"

The black paladin simply looked down at his drink, remaining silent rather than giving an answer. Coran pulled at his mustache. "I am curious as well."

"It's okay you guess."

"You guess? Is it not your home planet? Surely you have more to say about it than that?"

It's complicated." Shiro swished his drink around, staring down at the drink, but continuing to smile. "For starters, on my home planet I'm legally dead, so that's one of the first things I'll have to fix once we get back."

"Then all of you are planning on going back to Earth and not staying longer?"

"Yeah…" Shiro continued to look at the ground. "Most of us have family back there."

The black paladin seemed bothered by her line of questioning. "But what about Keith?" Her eyes drifted over at that point to Keith, yet he seemed to know to avoid eye contact, but also quickly left the room, purposefully avoiding her. Shiro hadn't answered but remained silent, so she decided to press. "I thought he doesn't have a family."

"You thought…" Shiro's voice strained slightly, his fingers of his mechanical arm tapping his other arm. Allura looked back in time to see this, the want for Keith to stay remaining. He didn't look her in the eye either. "Well, Keith did say he was thinking about looking for his family. To do that, the best place to start is honestly going back to Earth."

Allura's head turned back, her mouth pushing into a frown. "He can't find that information out here, in space? In any of the numerous Galra records out there, there might be something. I'd help him look."

"It…" The black paladin took a deep breath. "He was born on Earth, so it's definitely the place to start."

"But what if he wasn't born there, but elsewhere? How can you know for sure?"

"He's still got to rule it out."

Allura took a deep breath, turning her head, hurt that Shiro was keeping things from her, but that Keith was also going to be leaving. It also hurt to see that Keith wasn't participating in the celebrations. It also hurt knowing that both the red and black paladins, for some reason, weren't excited about going back to Earth, yet both were in rather dark moods.

It was then that she sought Keith out. She pressed, seeing the hurt in his eyes, wanting him to know he had a place there, at the Castle of Lions with her. She thought at first, maybe his connection to Shiro was the reason he said no, or that he wasn't soul bonded with her, as he wasn't Altean, but then that pain of _being_ Galra came back.

Something else was bothering him, something he couldn't say out loud. He struggled to speak to her but to also say goodbye to her. The overwhelming feeling she got was that he wanted to stay, that he wanted to be with her, but she also thought maybe, just maybe that was wishful thinking on her part, and that he spoke the truth when he said he didn't want to stay.

"Princess?"

Allura found herself drawn away, realizing that the mice were staring at her from where Coran was staring. He looked at her in worry. She smiled at her advisor. "Sorry. I miss them already."

One of the mice squeaked at her, letting her know they were concerned and had gone and gotten Coran. Worse, they knew how she felt about Keith leaving, yet…

Coran pulled at his mustache. "Particularly Shiro?"

"Shiro?" Allura titled his head. For some reason, Coran winked at her, but she didn't quite follow what he was getting at.

"You know. If you've soul bonded…"

"No. I haven't."

"Princess, it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's a beautiful thing."

"No, I mean he's not the one I've soul bonded with." The words came out, while Coran stood there, a bit confused.

"Not Shiro?"

"No, not…" Allura worried her lip, something bothering her about what Coran had said. "I'd rather not say who it was just yet, as I'm still trying to figure out how to best deal with these feelings. You know, I think I'll go do a scan of the planet. Maybe I can get an idea of what his home is like that way."

Coran titled his head, a tad confused. The princess didn't hear him say. "You say his home, but it's not Shiro?"

**V**

"Where's Keith?" Lance leaned back in his chair, looking around trying to find the red paladin. Like Shiro though, he'd disappeared. Matt and Pidge were chatting with Hunk, while Sam watched, but the tech talk was making Lance bored. So bored he actually noticed the person he enjoyed making fun of was missing from the room.

Specifically, he wanted to push that mental button of Keith's regarding his outburst in the shuttle ship. He honestly wasn't sure what Shiro said to make the red paladin's outburst about real siblings, but said button was honestly to tempting. Pidge and Hunk glanced up, while Matt frowned.

"Keith?" Matt's entire body relaxed. "Shiro still needed to talk to him."

"Still?" Lance's mouth pressed together, unsure what to think about that. "But they've been gone for hours. What could they be talking about that will take that long?"

The older of the Holt siblings opened his mouth, only to glance at his father. The look on Sam's face made Matt shut his mouth tight, before shaking his head. He pushed himself up from where he sat. "I'm going to go and look for them. They can't be that far away."

"You shouldn't interfere." Same spoke up.

Lance's hand's pushed into his pockets. "How is going and finding them interfering? I'm just curious where they are."

"And what they're doing." Pidge piped up, only for her to be elbowed by Hunk.

The blue paladin glared at them, before heading out of the room. He didn't ask Hunk to come, as it seemed that his friend was more interested in tech talk. The yellow paladin's voice drew him back. "Hey. You aren't going to go and bug Keith about, you know, that?"

"You mean the not a real sibling thing?" Lance turned his head, smirking over his shoulder. "You know I can't resist."

"Yeah, but isn't that kind of a little mean? I mean, family, or lack thereof, isn't that a big deal to Keith, and a very sensitive spot."

The blue paladin frowned, something clicking. He let out a deep breath, rubbing a hand through his hair, turning away. "Fine. Not going to make fun of him for that. But now that you mention it, what's up with that?

Looking back, Lance saw Hunk's eyes blink, before his friend shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not going to push. Keith will tell us when he's comfortable."

"So, you're not going with me?"

"Nope. I _really_ want to see my family. Don't you."

"Well, yeah. But…" Lance shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. "I need to walk around for a bit. You know how I am."

"Okay. If your family gets here, I'll come looking for you."

"Thanks."

The blue paladin continued along, quickly finding the smaller conference room, opening the doors as he went. He saw Shiro first, obviously talking to someone, though at this point they were silent. Lance assumed the person was Keith, but the pissed off look on Shiro's face was because the black paladin was upset with Keith's outburst. He opened the door, wondering if someone needed to intervene, only to freeze.

The person talking to Shiro wasn't Keith.

"Sis?"

His sister looked up, pushing up her glasses. "Lance."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm one of the garrison psychologists. Why else would I be here?" Lance took a deep breath, glancing at Shiro, knowing full well why his sister was there. He opened his mouth to say something, only for his sister to speak up. "I'm working on a psych evaluation right now. I need you to leave. Mom and dad will be here when all of you have had your evaluations.

"Wait. No." Lance stepped in, the door closing behind him. "Shiro, where's Keith?"

"What do you mean?" Shiro sat there, his arms folded across his chest, his mouth deeply set, his face emotionless. Lance's sister though seemed bothered by what he said.

"Seriously! You asked him to come and talk to you, and now he's not _here_. He's not _there_ either." His sister was pushing up her glasses, a sign that she disproved of something, though Lance never knew what that might be.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

His sister's notepad hit the table, making that snapping sound when someone set such things down, but not the majorly loud kind of sound. "Takashi Shirogane, are you refusing to tell me that he was here? Where is he now?"

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about."

Lance's fingers twisted into fists, his lips pushing together in frustration. For someone who was his hero, his idol, this wasn't something he expected. He stepped forward, slamming his hands down. "You know what she's talking about! Keith! Keith Kogane! Our red paladin! You were talking to him! This isn't funny!"

Shiro turned, his eyes dark, and the words he said came firmly. "This is none of your business."

"It may not be any of my business, but it is mine. Particularly since he is, here in Japan, still a minor until he turns twenty. I can't overlook the fact a minor may be in a dangerous situation he shouldn't be in."

"He's safe."

His entire image of Shiro seemed to shatter, falling to the ground right there. His sister stood up, turning Lance around and pushing him out of the room. "I need you to leave."

The next thing Lance knew, he was hearing the door close behind him. Letting out a deep breath, his long legs propelled him forward, hurrying back to the room. He slammed the door open. "Keith's gone!"

Everyone stared at him. Hunk spoke first. "What do you mean?"

"My sister is in there giving Shiro a psych evaluation, but Keith wasn't there." Lance folded his arms across his chest. Sam and Matt looked at each other, their worry growing while Hunk and Pidge simply remained surprised.

The corners of Hunk's mouth trembled. "What do you mean he wasn't there?"

"What else would I mean?"

Sam and Matt stood up, both heading to the door. Lance startled, confused at their actions, but Pidge's brother turned. "Stay here. We're going to go and talk to Shiro, see if we can't make some sense of this."

The two were then gone, and Lance glared at the floor. Hunk's voice strained. "Wait. Wait. We don't have time. We need to find Keith."

Pidge frowned, before opening up her computer. Within a few seconds, she managed to hack the system and began to troll the security footage. Her brow scrunched, frowning. Lance swallowed. "What is it."

"The video footage."

"What about it."

"Keith, he went with Shiro, talked to him for a short period of time, but then left."

"He left?" Hunk's eyes widened.

"Yeah. He seems to be looking at something written on paper, but the camera can't make out what it says. Backwards Earth tech." Pidge frowned. "I just know that he walked right out of the garrison, nobody paying attention to him as he did so."

"He left us!" The yellow paladin's eyes began to water.

"Shiro…" Lance looked at the ground. "He has something to do with this."

"We can't exactly ask him though," Pidge looked up. "But you're right. Shiro seems to have given him some kind of instruction. Problem is, I don't understand _why_ Keith needed to leave like that."

"We need to find him! We need to tell him he's wanted! We need to tell him not to go off like that!" Hunk blurted out, standing up, nearly bowling Lance over as he headed for the door.

Pidge and Lance looked at each other, but then stood up. There was no question what they were going to do. No matter how long it took, they would do it. Pidge downloaded the footage, and then after a second thought scrambled the entire database, putting the footage on a loop.

**V**

Keith was indeed his precious little brother, but Shiro couldn't help but think that the red paladin was going to get hurt emotionally, and hurt really bad. On one side, he wanted to respect Keith's decisions, but on the other, there was that desire to go into big brother mood. Nobody noticed that Keith was gone, which also meant it hadn't registered that Keith was even there. That, or they'd not figured out _who_ Keith really was. Which meant that person didn't know, nor did the media. Yet.

They, of course, sent in a psychologist. Chances were he was first because the damage on the outside was the most obvious, but the questions he knew were to check for the PTSD he knew was there. He didn't bother lying, answered things truthfully, yet kept his answers simple. None of the questions brought up Keith, so nobody knew to start looking for him. The clock said quite a few hours had passed since he'd sent Keith off, so he should be there, and safe by now.

Then, Lance blew it.

Worse, the psychiatrist contacted the commander of this particular Garrison, and he came straight to the room.

Shiro looked away, unable to look the man in the face, but said nothing. The man's hand's slammed down. "What is this I hear about Akira being here, but you letting him leave?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." The black paladin kept his arms crossed. The psychiatrist sat down, concern on her face. "You know as well as I do that Akira is dead."

"No. I know as well as you that he's alive Takashi. I'm aware of a lot more than you think."

"It's none of your business."

Again, the hands slammed down. "He's my grandson. It is my business."

"Commander Shirogane, I didn't know you actually had a heart." Shiro's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening. The man's face was now inches from his own. "You gave up on him being alive years ago, and never went looking for him. None of you did. None of you except mfather. You didn't care at all, so don't pretend you did."

A sudden blur occurred, and suddenly Shiro's cheek stung, his eyes going wide. "Don't tell me I don't care, when I tried bringing him home a year ago when you disappeared just like your mother and father did."

Shiro looked at the table, frowning as his cheek continued to sting. His mind was real, one of his panic attacks setting in, so he hadn't heard what the man said. He was _there_ , a prisoner again, just as one of the Galra slapped his face. They cursed, said things that he didn't understand, purposefully turning off the translator so he couldn't do what they said.

He sat there, frozen, terrified, unable to do anything. He didn't see his grandfather's anger melt, although his body remained tense. The psychiatrist frowned, watching the ticks and signs of a PTSD attack. He didn't hear the man say, "What is wrong with him?"

"PTSD, sir. I might as well be upfront with you that his psych evaluation hasn't been going well, but I believe he's aware of the fact he's having episodes, so he's been truthful with me."

Shiro found himself brought out of his trance, a hand placed gently on his shoulder. He didn't like the look on the man's face. "Don't worry. You'll be home soon. Safe. I want Akira home and safe as well though. Do you understand me?"

The black paladin closed his eyes. He understood to well, and choose not to say anything. The door opened, and Matt's frantic voice filled his ears. "Shiro! Where's Keith!"

Shiro's eyes opened up, seeing Matt and Sam there, watching him carefully. Commander Shirogane turned to Sam. "Holt, can you talk some sense into my grandson? I need to know Akira is okay."

The older Holt sibling paused, his eyes blinking. "Keith's okay. He can take care of himself rather easily."

Sam looked right at Shiro, the look on his face making the black paladin advert his eyes. "I'm a little more concerned that Shiro let Keith leave."

"Yeah. That's the real question. Why did you let him leave!" Matt got closer, almost in his face. "Keith is your little brother. He's your entire universe, and you'd do anything for each other. Why would you…"

"Because he is your entire universe." Sam frowned. "You don't keep a cherished bird caged, but let it fly free."

Matt completely stiffened up, and his grandfather took a deep breath. The psychologist got the reference but seemed rather horrified. His grandfather though remained clueless. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means your grandson thinks he's doing the right thing by letting your other grandson choose his own path. Yet…"

"Keith's safe," Shiro spoke up again, feeling ever so tired. The path Keith decided to take still scared him despite knowing that the red paladin was indeed safe, yet he couldn't give anything away.


	11. Light in Darkness

"Do you really have to leave Shiro?"

Keith's voice drew the young man's attention away from his breakfast, the milk dribbling from his mouth. The spoon clicked as Shiro set it down, his hand quickly grabbing a napkin to wipe his mouth. The corners of his mouth twitched up as he watched his younger brother. Keith was in the middle of buttering his morning toast, his mouth twisted up into a pout. It was going to be one of those days. "We've talked about this before."

"Yes, and I don't want you to leave."

Shiro reached for his coffee and took a deep drink, closing his eyes as he savored the drink. He set the cup down and cleared his voice. "Again, as I've said, we've talked about this. It's my job, for starters, but when I get back I'll have enough money that we can take a break, maybe go on a bit of a vacation."

"Yes. To Japan so I can meet your family." Keith frowned, looking at his toast, going back to scraping his knife across the top. Chances were he was far more concerned with the noise made by buttering his toast rather than actually eating at this point.

"Yeah. Do you want to meet Ryo?"

His younger brother shoved a piece of toast into his mouth. "Not really. He hates me."

Keith leaned back, his toast still sticking out of his mouth, his arms crossing his chest as he watched his legal guardian. Shiro frowned, wondering what to say next. "Ryo doesn't hate you."

"He's always yelling at you over the phone about me, for taking you away from him."

"That…" Shiro took a deep breath. "That's not what happened."

"The entire family hates me because I took you away."

"Keith."

"Well, they do."

The corners of Shiro's mouth twisted slightly. His fingers tapped the top of the counter, wondering what to say next.

"I'm sorry I caused you to be estranged from your family."

"Don't be." The young man let out a laugh, one he quickly realized hadn't amused Keith at all. "It's my choice."

"No. It was my dad's. He dumped me on you when he disappeared. He knew you wouldn't say no. You should have said no."

"Keith…" Shiro took a deep breath. "How about you finish your breakfast, then we can go over what your daily routine is going to be while I'm gone?"

"It's the same as it normally is, except you're not here."

"Uh, no. It's not just that I'm not going to be here." Shiro watched Keith stare at him. "So, how about when I get back, we get a pet? Well, maybe not until we get back from Japan of course, but…"

"You said I couldn't have a pet."

A laugh escaped from deep within Shiro's lungs, a short one. "And why did I say that?"

"Because I'm not responsible."

"Yeah, but you're going to be taking a lot of responsibility on while I'm gone, so if there aren't any issues, I don't see why we can't get a pet. I'm kind of looking forward already to see what you pick out." Keith would most likely pick a cat, although Shiro would honestly prefer a dog. He watched Keith's eyes widen, getting that glint Keith got when he saw something that was figuratively shiny. It was the first time Shiro's mentioned getting a pet, but it seemed to cut the comments about not wanting Shiro to leave.

**V**

" _I don't want to meet this Keith Kogane kid. I don't care that he's likely distantly related to us, and that's why you were asked to take him in._ "

"Come on Ryo. Don't be like that. Can't you be at the launch. It would mean…" Shiro closed his eyes, hearing Ryo interrupt him.

" _I'm not going to be there if he is._ "

"Ryo…"

" _Don't act like you haven't done anything wrong, Takashi!_ " His other younger brother snapped, quite irate. " _You think that just because a few years have passed that I'll finally be fine with this kid you replaced our brother with? I don't care that we're the same age. I want nothing to do with him. He's not Akira! Yet now you're wanting me to show up and pretend like there's nothing wrong._ "

"Well, yeah. I did ask that you not…"

" _You used the words 'that subject'! You couldn't even bring up Akira's name!_ "

"Ryo, I couldn't say anything because Keith's listening, and…" Shiro's eyes snapped shut, a clicking sound indicating that his other brother had hung up. He turned to look at Keith, only to find himself letting out a deep sigh.

Keith had those puppy dog eyes of his, but his lip was trembling. "I don't have to go to the launch."

"Keith…"

"It's your family who's supposed to be there, Shiro. That's what the pre-launch event is about. Not some strange kid that you're pretending to be your brother."

The older of the two felt the corner of his mouth twitch up. Ryo and Keith were different, and yet there were certain ways that they thought the same. Reaching out, one finger poked Keith in the forehead. "Except we are family. Nothing is ever going to change that. Remember that I'm going to be introducing you to them, the rest of the family when I get back."

Keith let out a deep breath, folding his arms across his chest, indicating he was being stubborn. "Your family, not mine."

Shiro took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. You're still family."

"That…" Two dark eyes looked at the ground. "Only because you're my legal guardian."

This made Shiro frown, and one of his calloused hands reached out to ruffle Keith's head. "You _are_ family, because _I_ say so."

That didn't settle Keith down, but he didn't say anything else.

**V**

"Have you told Keith yet?" Matt sat in the chair, unbuckling himself so he could float around. He'd moved his mike from his mouth, as it would be awhile until they could communicate with Earth again.

"I'm telling him when we get back." Shiro let out a chuckle. "I'm going to tell him nice and slowly by slowly introducing him to one family member at a time, so he's not overwhelmed."

"Now you're just making excuses. I know your dad wanted you to keep things secret for whatever reasons he did, but we also discussed the fact this isn't good for Keith."

"I know. I tried getting Ryo to come to the launch. I wanted him to be the first one Keith met. I was going to start by explaining things to Ryo, and…"

"Hope he didn't blab that Keith and he are twins?" Matt shook his head.

"That…" Shiro tilted his head. "I was hoping I could get him to understand that overwhelming Keith isn't the best idea."

"Shiro. This is the brother who's pissed at you for replacing Akira _with_ Akira. He's going to be even more pissed that you didn't tell him sooner, but that you kept them apart."

"Just imagine how Keith will react." Sam piped up.

Matt frowned. "Okay. So maybe telling Keith is not the best idea, but the longer you hold off, the worse it is going to be."

"Don't worry. I'll tell him as soon as I get back."

**V**

Getting back of course took longer than he thought, and when he was finally around Keith – well, Matt was unfortunately right about waiting too long.

There was no way to get a private word in at the shack, not with the other soon-to-be-paladins there. Thankfully though, nobody asked why he had clothes at Keith's place, or pried into _their_ personal business. Of course, Katie knew that Keith was his sibling, though to what depth she knew that Keith knew or not, he didn't know. And he hadn't known until a bit later that she'd known.

As for Hunk and Lance, well, Hunk it didn't matter, as he was good at keeping secrets, but Lance… that was a horror waiting to happen.

He'd hoped there'd be a chance to talk to Keith, but the thing was, first he found himself having Keith stay behind to wait for the red lion, then separating to help Katie of all people find her dad and brother, letting his _own_ brother go off on his own. Add in the factor that Keith was good at hiding away and avoiding people, or that there were so many things to be done, so when Keith wasn't avoiding him, there was no chance to talk.

He'd hoped they would have a chance to talk.

And then the Blades of Marmora disaster occurred.

Specifically, he'd noticed something was wrong, and had hoped that Keith would tell them, as they were family. However, he hadn't realized how much his younger brother's world had been shaken up. Goodness knows their father had left the knife out of the picture never telling Shiro, but there Keith was, saying he was like a brother, having Shiro walk away as if there was no connection what-so-ever.

Yes, that Shiro was fake, yet it stung so bad. And let's not forget the fact Shiro saw his worst nightmare playing out in front of him. Keith was getting hurt, but he might also die. Truth be told, he suspected that Kolivan was watching him just as much as he was Keith, yet Shiro struggled with not running in sooner. He finally had to go in when the red lion started attacking, knowing it was time.

Then, an even worse disaster occured with the activation of the blade.

Which was problematic, as thinking back, Shiro didn't remember his mother with purple skin. Yes, that night Keith was born was a nightmare seared into his brain, but the sight he saw, well, let's just say he should have known better than to get in the way of Allura. His mother very clearly had Altean markings, yet here Kolivan said the only way was to have Galra blood in them.

Though, to be honest, Shiro felt there might be some missing information in there, though who between him and Kolivan was missing the information, he did not know.

More important, Kolivan telling Keith he was part Galra made explaining to his younger brother their family relationship practically impossible, but some part of Shiro didn't want Keith to know at all. Even worse, the red paladin said something he'd never expect to hear Keith say, that after they finished this war they found themselves thrown into, he'd go looking for his family. A horrible dread crept up, a deep sinking feeling that Keith would get seriously hurt.

In fact, at that moment he should have been happy they were going home, yet at that moment he felt like the distance between him and Keith had grown. The plans he'd had prior to the Kerberos mission were shattered into tiny pieces he didn't think could ever be picked back up, let alone mended. Worse, what with being captured, he couldn't say anything regarding the pre-Kerberos plans, but there was also the fact…

He was so proud of his younger brother, yet couldn't say anything.

Shiro held no qualms letting Keith remain leader, but found himself biting his tongue every time Keith insisted Shiro should take back the position. He thanked the black lion for not rejecting Keith like everyone else did, which in turn provided a mental safety net along with his blind pride in his younger brother. Yet, because Keith didn't know, explaining why simply refused to slip from his tongue.

More specifically, he felt like their bond was breaking, that he was going to lose the one thing in his life that held said bond together. The bond was what kept him going in the area, for Keith, after all, was his light, the bright spot in his light. With Keith, life wasn't boring, or dark, but filled with wonder. Letting Keith go…

That was the hardest thing he ever did, knowing Keith would likely hate Shiro forever once he found out the truth he'd kept hidden. The hate, Shiro felt he could live with, but not the fact said hate came from something he did.


	12. Worrisome Secrets

Kenji told him not to worry, and yet Keith couldn't help but worry.

Specifically, Keith felt as if in a cage, trapped inside of the house with nowhere to go. The reporters lurked just outside of the place, irritating the young man due to the urge – no, need – to rove away from the home. Being stuck indoors simply didn't suit him, nor did lying on the floor of the top room starring at the ceiling, contemplating so many negative thoughts.

Such as the fact Ryo hated him, and wanted nothing to do with him. It had always been that way, with Ryo getting mad at Shiro over the phone, but the word _replacement_ was the one part of Ryo's side of the conversation that Keith could make out, and the older of the two siblings responding to say Keith wasn't a replacement, but not to treat him as such.

Allura also remained on his mind as much as Shiro did. He'd separated himself from the two purposefully so as not to interfere with their relationship, and yet he truly wanted to be with both. A particular thought made Keith's cheeks heat up, but for the young man to mentally call himself a pervert even though thinking she was pretty truthfully wasn't perverted at all.

Answers also lay at the tip of his finger, waiting for Keith to grab them with his fingers, yet he found himself to afraid to ask the needed questions of those he knew had the answers. Yet, the realization Shiro kept things from him also sat there at the back of his mind. How much Shiro knew, Keith didn't know. He wasn't sure how to feel about the deception, nor did he like mulling things over.

"I've got to get out of here." Keith finally sat up, the listlessness finally getting too much for him.

The groan startled Kenji. His cousin glared, his mouth twisting into a frown, making Keith swallow and look away. "You can't. You saw the news van. You know that they're looking for a story."

Keith pushed himself up front the ground. "That doesn't change the fact I need to get out. I'm not used to holding still."

"Yeah, but where are young going to go?" Kenji let out a sigh. "You don't know where anything is around here."

His eyebrows dropped, yet he continued moving towards the door, his mind running on instinct. From behind, he heard Kenji moving to stand up himself, the sound of frustration in his voice. Barely glancing over his shoulder, Keith muttered, "Sorry…"

"Sorry? Why are you apologizing?"

"I'm annoying you?"

"Ann…" Kenji let out another sigh. "I'm not going to be able to stop you, right? Do I need to tell our oba-chan?"

Keith stopped, before turning his head to look at Kenji. "I'm _not_ staying up here."

He found himself heading down the stairs. His grandmother managed to clean up the mess he'd created when the stranger came to the door looking for his grandmother. The young man swallowed, wondering how to approach the woman, before glancing down at the ground and taking a deep sigh. "Umm…"

Kenji's footsteps came behind him, but he also heard the other young man lean up against the wall. "Oba-chan. Keith is planning on going out."

The old woman glanced up from where she and her husband sat drinking tea. Instead of answering right away, she headed into the kitchen. Keith watched her begin to pack up food, as if she weren't bothered at all by his need to wander about. "When you were little, you never liked holding still. You liked to climb trees, play in the brook near here. And let's not forget how you loved counting the steps up to the shrine to visit your Uncle Okita up at the shrine. I'm sure he'd love if you brought him a snack, like you did when you were younger."

"Um…" Keith frowned, unsure of how to react. In the back of his mind, he remembered how she called him precious moonchild, but also mentioned his interest in the stairs. His grandmother now gave more details regarding his childhood that he himself didn't remember. He heard the stair creak from above him, and he looked up to see Kenji stiffening slightly.

"Come here." The old woman waved him over, and Keith stepped over. The woman pressed the package of food into his hand. The cloth wrapped around the package was soft, but so were his grandmother's fingers as she pressed his own calloused fingers closed. "If you hurry, you can watch the sunset. It is very beautiful."

"Yes. I remember watching the sunset with your grandmother in our youth."

Keith's eyes blinked, turning his head to look at the old man, who hadn't said much so far. His grandmother's voice filled his ear with soft sounds. "We still do."

"No. We stopped watching the sunset and started watching his parents watch the sunset instead. Maybe we'll see you watch the sunset with a young lady someday?"

The red paladin felt his throat tighten, before hurrying towards the back door as Kenji broke into uncontrolled laughter. He found himself stopping at the door, realizing he wasn't wearing his shoes. Keith heard Kenji moving through the room in what sounded like a zigzag manner before feeling something pressed into the middle of his back. "Your shoes."

Keith turned, snatching the shoes away, unamused at the look of amusement on his cousin's face.

"Come on. Oba-chan does this to all of us." The young man's voice dropped to a whisper. "She wants great-grandbabies."

"I heard that Kenji."

The other teen shrugged his shoulders as Keith slipped his shoes on, stepping around so he could show the way to the Shrine. The path was nearby, running beside the small family store and home on the opposite side from which Keith approached. It was smaller than the road which the vehicles used. He'd not seen the path as it lay between the store and another building, one which appeared newer.

Kenji lifted a finger to his mouth, indicating Keith should remain quiet as they headed to the Shrine. His eyes widened upon seeing the stairs leading up into the nearby mountain, his mind contemplating the sudden urge to hurry up the steps, so his muscles would burn from the exercise. He started forward, only for a feminine voice to call out.

"Kogane-san."

Keith heard Kenji took a deep breath, before turning towards the speaker. "Great. It's Tsuya-chan."

Keith tensed, recognizing the name. He turned to see the girl he'd met on the bus, noting the fact she tucked her arms behind her back, but looked quite pleased with herself. "I wasn't talking to you Kenji."

Kenji's head turned, looking Keith in the eye. "Wait. She knows you're name?"

"Why wouldn't I? We met on the bus. He's the Doragonhanta look alike. Speaking of which, I'm off to karaoke with the other kids. It might seem strange to have a karaoke bar in a place as rural as Shurubabare, but we have one. Kind of have to because Ryo's so popular and all." Tsuya didn't notice Kenji roll his eyes before glaring at her. "Speaking of which, he'll be there. Ryo that is. I could introduce you Keith."

"No. Definitely no." Keith felt his voice strain. "Kenji and I are running an errand for oba-chan."

Tsuya's mouth pushed together. "So, he's definitely your cousin? Who's his parents?"

Keith took a deep breath, before heading up the stairs. His fingers twisted around the cloth, but he started up at a rather quick pace. Kenji startled, before hurrying after his cousin. "Hey! Hold up!" Keith turned to look at Kenji, only to see Tsuya glaring at him, her arms crossed. She thankfully didn't follow. He slowed though, so Kenji could catch up. "Seriously. Did you have to leave me alone to deal with her?"

"I wouldn't have been any help."

"That…" Kenji took a deep breath.

"I don't like her."

"Okay." A silence stayed with them for about twenty to thirty steps up. "I've got to admit though, that I am curious like she is to know how you're related to us." Keith stopped, turning to look down at Kenji who was only a couple of steps below him. "I mean, Oba-chan said something which didn't make sense before we left."

"What?"

"Oba-chan said you used to play around here when you were younger, even visited old Obito up at the shrine." Kenji took a deep breath, looking Keith in the eye. "Yet I don't remember ever seeing you around here when I was younger, and I've lived here my entire life. I even went to the local high school, whereas everyone else goes away. It honestly bothers me."

"Don't worry. You're not the only one." Keith started up the stairs to the shrine. His ears caught the sound of Kenji following close behind, and his free hand shoved into his pocket.

His cousin didn't remain quiet for long. "Okay. There's another thing that bothers me."

"What?"

"How are you related to us?"

"I honestly don't know." Keith heard a choking sound and stopped again. His eyes narrowed, watching Kenji's face contort. "What?"

"How the _hell_ can you _be_ so calm?" Kenji took a deep breath. "I mean, not knowing how you're related to us?"

Keith's head titled slightly, thinking about what Kenji asked. "It's why I came here. Why Shiro told me to come at least. To find out. And it's honestly not as bad as finding out your mother is an extraterrestrial being."

He started up again, wondering how many other questions Kenji would ask. He didn't mind the company, and yet like everyone else he couldn't put a finger on what the other young man was thinking, let alone whether it was for or against him. He found himself arriving at the top but looked up at the entrance to the shrine. He started forward, only for Kenji to grab him from behind.

"Hold it."

"What?" Keith turned to look at Kenji.

"Bow before crossing the _torii_."

Keith watched his cousin bow, and followed suit, swallowing as he did so. "Quiznack."

"What?"

"Nothing." Keith glanced away, not wanting to talk about his lack of proper etiquette regarding social situations. He choose to follow his cousin and carefully mimicked everything they did. A man dressed in monk's robes sat drinking his tea. "Are you Okita?"

The man looked up just as Kenji elbowed him in the ribs, making Keith flinch. "Grandmother told you to call him uncle, remember?"

"I…" Keith watched the man stare at him, making him feel nervous. "Uh… oji-san?"

The man lifted a cup to his mouth, taking a drink before motioning for Keith to come closer. Setting the cup down, the man smiled. "Are you who I think you are?"

"I'm Keith." It was a simple enough answer. "Keith Kogane."

"Kogane Keith." Kenji hissed.

"Kogane Keith." Keith's eyes drifted to the ground, displeased at his mistake.

"It's okay Kenji." The man stood up, his calloused hand reaching for Keith's chin. The teen flinched, confused regarding why the man reacted the way he did. "My. I never thought I'd get to see you again. I bet you've grown up to be a wonderful young man."

"I haven't." Keith lifted up the bundle, holding it out to the man. "Oba-chan sent this for you."

"Oh. Want to sit a bit and watch the sunset?"

"I…" Keith looked at the ground.

"I insist _amai oi_."

"I'm not sweet."

"Oh kiddo." The man sat, patting the stair he sat on. "You've always been a sweet child even if you've not ever realized it."

Keith's head snapped up, his mouth opening. Kenji sat down on the other side. His cousin took a deep breath. "You should sit, otherwise you'll miss the sunset."

Keith complied, turning to look at the beautiful sight. " _Allura would love this._ " His eyes blinked, startled at where his thoughts went, but decided to change the subject. "You knew me? When I was younger that is?"

"You don't remember?"

"No."

"I see. You've always been a special child."

"I don't want to be special. I want to be normal. Well, except for the part involving Voltron."

His uncle suddenly choked, the tea spluttering out of his mouth. "Keith, did you just mention Voltron?"

Keith's head darted up, the reaction catching him off guard. He started opening his mouth when he heard a familiar voice. "Akira?"

Turning his head back to the sunset, he saw Shiro's brother Ryo looking at him. Keith also saw Uncle Obito tense up upon seeing him.


	13. Darkness

Erasing the memory from his mind proved impossible.

In the back of his mind, he still remembered Ryo's small frame staring at the family grave as rain poured down around them. The boy's chest rose and fell, his eyes which mirrored Akira's staring at the familiar name. Ever since the incident – the kidnapping, Ryo remained in a panicked state, looking around for something which wasn't there.

His dead twin brother, obviously…

Takashi's hand tightened around his younger brother's, his mind attempting to keep his own feelings under control. "Akira was a rather odd child, wasn't he?", one adult said. Another said, "It's a shame. Why did the moon child have to die? The matriarchs of both the Shirogane and Kogane families are devastated."

And yet, life went on.

At least, life went on for everyone else in the family.

A scream woke him from his slumber. Takashi found himself getting up, heading towards his brother's room at the manor – the room he used to share with Akira. Sliding open the door, he found Ryo shaking under the covers of his futon. Takashi slipped in, bringing himself under the covers, listening to Ryo's teeth chatter. Pulling the boy close didn't stop the shaking, and the only noise from his brother worried him, as the chattering said so much even though Ryo said so little.

"What did the kidnappers do to Ryo and Akira?"

His words made his grandfather's head dart up. Takashi rarely if ever saw fright in the man's eyes, yet the day he decided to ask that question he saw said fear. "Takashi, don't ever say Akira's name again."

"But…"

"I am the head of this family, and you will do what I say."

"What about Ryo? Are you going to not say his name either? He's practically dead, isn't he, but how am I supposed to help him if I don't know what happened?"

The man's facial features softened, another rarity. "Some things are better left alone. Ryo will talk when Ryo will."

Talking when Ryo would have meant going through a couple years of utter silence, but at least the amount of time between nightmares kept growing until Ryo no longer had nightmares. Of course, Takashi wasn't privy to everything done for his younger brother. He wasn't really sure when Ryo started talking again, let alone making friends with others. The boy remained distant, only coming out emotionally in his music.

In all honesty, Ryo's songs haunted Takashi. His younger brother came up with lines such as, " _mirror of me broken into a million pieces_ ", and with these Ryo became a pop sensation.

_Mirror of me broken into a million pieces -  
Where has your name gone all these years?  
Cutting into my skin these broken shards -  
I'm left in oblivion attempting to find myself._

The interpretations of just those lines varied among fans, and yet Takashi knew these words were about Ryo losing his twin, a twin everyone came to forget. He found himself unable to listen, something which frustrated Ryo. He remembered that once upon a time, it was Ryo who would cry, and not Akira. Akira mostly smiled Now, Ryo only cried through his music, shutting himself off from everyone.

Of course, him becoming Keith's legal guardian didn't help their relationship.

"How dare you! How dare you replace Akira, Takashi? And with what? Some kid…"

"Ryo, I've got a headache. There's a lot of paperwork involved in this."

"You don't get it!"

"Ryo…"

"You don't get it at all!"

"You've not met Keith, so is it fair to…"

"Fair? What's not fair is you replacing Akira! Have you also forgotten him or is this your way of compensating for his loss! Because…"

"I don't need some penchant teenage pop idol whose method of compensating involves hiding all of his feelings and emotions in his music rather than…"

"That's why you can't listen to them? Because they remind you of Akira? Because for you it's just easier to forget and replace him?"

"Out!"

And then there was the last conversation they had.

" _I don't want to meet this Keith Kogane kid. I don't care that he's likely distantly related to us, and that's why you were asked to take him in._ "

"Come on Ryo. Don't be like that. Can't you be at the launch. It would mean…"

" _I'm not going to be there if he is._ "

"Ryo…"

" _Don't act like you haven't done anything wrong, Takashi! You think that just because a few years have passed that I'll finally be fine with this kid you replaced our brother with? I don't care that we're the same age. I want nothing to do with him. He's not Akira! Yet now you're wanting me to show up and pretend like there's nothing wrong._ "

"Well, yeah. I did ask that you not…"

" _You used the words 'that subject'! You couldn't even bring up Akira's name!_ "

"Ryo, I couldn't say anything because Keith's listening, and…"

**V**

Erasing the memory from his mind proved impossible.

Akira's smile was infectious to say the least, but always chased the rain away. Yet, that day at the funeral it kept raining and raining. He remembered wanting to cry so hard, yet some adult telling him not to cry, but man up. Remembering Akira's smile also proved so much better than remembering what happened when Akira and he were kidnapped, as every time he remembered he felt as if her were suffocating.

His twin was dead, and he'd never get that smile back.

The adults didn't seem to care or understand. "What a horrible child. I'm glad he's dead," said one adult, while another said, "I'm glad they killed the little monster. He was such a horrid child."

So, life went on, because nobody wanted to remember the horrid child.

Except life didn't go on, because Ryo couldn't help but remember Akira differently.

Except, of course at night when he'd awake, the memories of what happened raging in the back of his mind. While these memories thankfully became a fog, something remained in the back of his mind – the men wanted Akira, but they wanted to hurt Akira. They _did_ hurt Akira, and that's why Akira died, yet Ryo found himself unable to wrap his mind around why they'd want to touch the "moon child". Half of what they said, he didn't understand.

"Hey, Ryo. You're having another nightmare."

His eyes wouldn't open, yet he'd feel Takashi getting into the futon with him, pulling him close. He didn't need to say anything, yet he couldn't help but feel dead inside. After all, something very important was lost, yet nobody seemed to understand how he felt. Constantly their grandfather would say, "don't ever say Akira's name again."

Except, he was an exception to the rule. When he finally started talking again, nobody balked at him saying Akira's name. Possibly though, everyone was simply too shocked to hear him speaking again. Grandfather didn't care. It wasn't though until someone told him, "you're such an amazing child" and he responded with, "no, Akira is," that he really understood. Their response back was, "who's Akira." Nobody remembered.

_Mirror of me broken into a million pieces –_

Somehow, he managed to get his feelings out on paper, into his music. Nobody understood how incomplete he felt without Akira, but then again it was just to easy to erase something they could not see.

_Where has your name gone all of these years?_

Some of the girls thought he was referring to some lost love interest, and yet he was honestly too young when the first song became such a hit. He was interested in girls, but never found himself interested in any specific girl.

Well, until recently when he started dreaming of a girl with brown skin, pointed ears, blue eyes and white hair. In his mind, she wasn't _his_ love interest, but that of his brothers. Oh, did he hate Takashi, meaning he'd rant and rave in his songs against the girls. In part, this was why he took a break to go to college. The inspiration wasn't there yet was – in a way he didn't like. Why should he be upset with some skank stealing his brother – the one he hated for replacing Akira?

_Cutting into my skin these broken shards –_

"What do you say regarding the girl who decided to attempt suicide because of your song?"

"I'm not sure whether to be more appalled with the fact a certain fan misinterpreted a line I meant to describe a painful feeling to me decided to treat suicide like some kind of romantic thing, or the fact they're comparing the way I feel to the way someone who does struggle with suicidal thoughts every single day."

"So you're not suicidal? The lyrics you wrote resonated quite well with some who are."

"If they can find solace in my song, I'm glad. But no, I'm not suicidal."

Except, the Akira part of him was. He'd dream about it late at night of late. In one dream his Akira-self was with Shiro talking to these strange people. He felt the blade pierce his side, felt angry at himself for morning the loss of his father, but glad he said Takashi was _like_ a brother. The dreams left him with negative feelings, being that dreams were meant to be an insight into one's psyche.

He didn't thought want to go back to counseling, but the family didn't want anyone to know he'd been in counseling for his brother's death.

_I'm left in oblivion attempting to find myself._

How could he find himself when his family's solution was to forget and replace? Finding out about Keith left his stomach upset. "How dare you! How dare you replace Akira, Takashi? And with what? Some kid…"

Takashi was working on the paperwork he needed to become the legal guardian of the kid, but the fact his older brother was taking in a complete stranger the age he was – that Akira should have been – didn't sit well. "Ryo, I've got a headache. There's a lot of paperwork involved in this."

"You don't get it!"

"Ryo…."

"You don't get it at all!"

"You've not met Keith, so is it fair to…"

In fact, he didn't want to meet Keith. "I don't want to meet this Keith Kogane kid. I don't care that he's likely distantly related to us and that's why you were asked to take him in."

" _Come on Ryo. Don't be like that. Can't you be at the launch. It would mean…_ "

"I'm not going to be there if he is." He wanted Shiro to choose Akira and him over that boy. He wanted it so badly, for someone to acknowledge the fact Akira once existed.

" _Ryo…_ "

" _Don't act like you haven't done anything wrong, Takashi! You think that just because a few years have passed that I'll finally be fine with this kid you replaced our brother with? I don't care that we're the same age. I want nothing to do with him. He's not Akira! Yet now you're wanting me to show up and pretend like there's nothing wrong._ "

He wrote his feelings into his music, refusing to cry. He wasn't supposed to, but doing this made him feel better. At least, they did for a short period of time.


	14. Gumption

"I don't care that he's my older brother and I've not seen him for over a year. I don't want to see him ever!" Ryo stood looking up at the large clock tower at Tokyo University, watching the clock hands tick away.

" _You've not seen him in two years. Aren't you glad he's alive?_ "

"I don't care that it's been two years, and no. I'm not glad. He's not _him_!" Ryo clicked the button which hung up the phone, not caring about the lack of decorum he showed. After a few seconds he calmed, noting in the back of his head how the old man always treated him differently, giving him a bit more leeway. The family head was known for being strict, and yet for some reason let Ryo deal with his baggage the way Ryo so choose. "I'll apologize later. Goodness knows I won't be able to avoid Takashi forever."

"So, it is true?"

Ryo paused, noticing a couple of his female classmates approach him. The first who spoke dressed in a scant manner, but the second constantly looked at the ground. "You said he's not him? Does him mean, say, a boyfriend?"

" _I wish they'd get their mind out of the gutter._ " Ryo smiled. "Apologies, but this is a private family matter. You shouldn't be listening in on the conversation."

"Are you leaving Ryo-kun?" The first whined.

Ryo flinched. She'd used his first name so casually, yet he didn't know her. "I'm going home for the summer holiday. Enough said. Chao!"

He waved before hoisting his backpack up further on his shoulders. He thankfully didn't miss his bus, but found himself glad most of the trip went off without anyone recognizing him. Getting closer to Shurubabare though meant people would easily recognize him despite the sunglasses. Takashi coming home leaked, so everyone was curious. He kept conversation, though, to a minimum. At least until someone asked, "Are you sure you want to come here to Shurubabare? I'd have thought you'd have rushed to the garrison with your grandfather and uncle, Ryo, once you found out your older brother is actually alive."

"Yeah. I thought you'd be pleased with the fact Takashi's alive. Didn't you wish…"

The comment filled him with anger. In all honesty, he'd been looking forward to purchasing a cold soda after the long bus ride from his grandparents shop and enjoying it without any conversation on the subject, and yet there he was. "That I'd wish Takashi were alive? That I'd consider that some kind of wish come true?" The anger in his voice was likely evident. "It's not! Of all the people to come back from the dead, he's the last person I'd want. It's a shit miracle, that's what it is, and I'll have…"

A red blur and thudding sound caught him off guard. A person landed in front of the group, a stranger of sorts and yet no stranger, for the face was recognizable.

"… nothing to … do with…" Ryo stared, his mind still processing the site in front of him. Lying on his back was a boy who looked a lot like him, except with slightly longer hair. One of his friends from the village – if he really could call them a friend – noticed and commented on it, which resulted in the "look-alike" cursing. And yet, Ryo couldn't help but speak in a softer tone. "Akira…"

He watched Akira's facial features, for who else could that be, twist suddenly in shock before he bolted back into the small store, but his grandfather refused to let him in. The pain welled in his chest, remembering how everyone choose to forget, and yet now he yet again found himself shut off from his twin. Reluctantly, he left, knowing full well his grandfather was already upset with him for not going to see Takashi.

Yet, it festered.

There was no way he wouldn't recognize his own twin.

He found himself sitting in the karaoke room with the few friends he'd arrived in town with waiting for the others to arrive. "Hey? Ryo. Want to pick a song? This is really your thing?"

"I'm not in the mood."

"Then I'll go first while we wait."

The music turned on, and Ryo found himself looking up at the ceiling. After sitting through a few badly sung songs, he spoke up. "Not where I want to be right now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tilting his head up, Ryo noticed a couple of other guy enter alone with three young women. The one who spoke, Ryo recognized as a Shirogane family member, yet brushed it aside. One of the girls spoke as Ryo reached for his soda. "Ryo's talking about the fact he's not at the garrison?"

"Nah. He was quite adamant he didn't want to see his older brother." One of the guys sighed.

"Then it's not a rumor? Why wouldn't you want to see him?"

Ryo tilted his head, finding everyone an annoyance. "Nope. He and I weren't on speaking terms when he left."

"That's right. You didn't go to the launch."

This comment made Ryo's head snap up, as not many were purvey to that particular bit of information. The girl plopped down between Ryo and one of the other guys, her hands touching his leg. "None of your business."

"Yes. But if you're not wanting to be there, then where."

Ryo watched one of the girl's lips twist into a frown, her eyes watching the other girl carefully. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything the girl climbed into his lap and locked lips with him. The girl who sat down next to him let out a sound of annoyance. "Tsuya! That's so not fair!"

For a brief moment the festering thoughts stopped, his mind focusing on something else. On one side, Tsuya wasn't a bad kisser, but on the other hand her personality was always super annoying. "Ryo, are you okay?"

His eyes snapped open and he pushed Tsuya away slightly. "What?"

"You normally wouldn't let Tsuya or any girl…" It was the same guy from the same family. Tsuya forced her lips back onto his, and his body tensed up

"He's probably distracted by the fact he wanted to beat up that look-alike?"

"What…"

Tsuya continued kissing him, his mind still floating between pleasure and dislike of the girl.

"Ryo called him Akira."

Thankfully, the girl made the decision for her. "His name's not Akira."

The other Shirogane family member took a deep breath. "We're not allowed to mention that name."

"What name?"

Ryo felt a little ticked off with Tsuya. "Akira."

"Yeah, but you said it."

"That's different," the other Shirogane family member muttered. "He's the only one the head allows to, and even then Ryo rarely says…" The person paused. "Did you really…"

"There is no way that's his name."

"You saw the Ryo look alike, Tsuya?" The girls were obviously interested for obvious reasons.

"Now hold on…" The obvious reasons – hitting on Akira, simply didn't sit well in Ryo's mind. He attempted moving Tsuya off his lap, but as he attempted wrapping his arm behind her so she wouldn't fall as he tried adjusting his position he found her latching on using her hips. " _Just my luck._ "

"Yeah. He said his grandmother was sending him on an errand. Kogane Kenji was with him, and they were headed to the shrine."

"Wait…" Ryo's eyes blinked. Tsuya's words indicated Akira was no longer under their grandmother's roof. She locked lips with him again, this time catching him off guard, but making the situation a bit more uncomfortable.

"Yeah, but what was his name."

"Kogane Keith, though he accidentally called himself Keith Kogane."

"What." Ryo started, accidentally knocking Tsuya out of his lap. She gave him a rather indignant look, but for a brief moment he thought he got a glimpse of something he'd rather not.

"Oh my gosh. What an idiot!"

"Excuse me?" His eyes narrowed, super frustrated.

"Not you. That Kogane kid."

"I've got to go." Ryo stood up, ignoring the pout on Tsuya's face.

"Hey. If you want to go and beat up this guy, we can…"

"Stay out of this."

"Aren't you going to apologize?"

Ryo stopped at the door and turned to look at Tsuya. "For what? Leaving early? Sorry for being such a party pooper."

"For dumping me on my butt you idiot!"

Ryo narrowed his eyes, before turning around and leaving. He quickly headed from the karaoke bar to the shrine, stopping when he heard someone behind him. He turned to look at the other Shirogane member. "I thought I said to stay out of this?"

"You called him…" The other young man sighed, closing his eyes. "Need I remind you he's dead?"

"They also said the heir apparent was dead as well and look who else is back."

"Isn't that a different situation? Shirogane Takashi – he was considered missing in action with the rest of the Kerberos crew. There was always room for him being alive. For all of them being alive."

"You don't think I wouldn't know my own twin brother?" He turned, knowing full well the other Shirogane family member would continue following him. While this one wasn't so discrete, a personal bodyguard was still a personal bodyguard. As he neared the top of the shrine.

"Keith, did you just mention Voltron?"

Ryo found his head spinning, his anger and frustration at Shirogane Takashi increasing by the moment. Until this point he hated him for replacing Akira. Now, he hate him for not saying Akira was alive. He still took a deep breath, watching his brother carefully. "Akira?"


End file.
